tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-68126051152705635312024-03-13T16:27:34.601-07:00UWF NEWBORN: KICK. SUBMISSION. SUPLEX.D. Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14629124673589292567noreply@blogger.comBlogger25125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6812605115270563531.post-60831646854299482102020-04-05T10:30:00.001-07:002020-04-05T12:22:44.168-07:00UWF 04/05/1990 - THE MEMORIAL - (24/31)<b>UWF The Memorial</b><br />
Nippon Budokan, Tokyo<br />
4th May 1990<br />
att. 14130<br />
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Before we get into the emotional and physical fray of a UWF show (and please, keep reading to meet our special guest writer!) I think it is probably important that, given the haphazard order that I have approached UWF shows, I recap where we are as of May 1990 in order to give some shape to the story.</div>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-IanCBFfpB9s/XooP90hxDsI/AAAAAAAAFXo/6eBjAzNTgpE8uoS7qGarnAesNBCjymKOACEwYBhgLKs0DAMBZVoDAtdqeBTZbCuYDL-8Es7tS4BLJj8PadZQMSqLlpKnS7quU2OYvxNbm_ihpeKyaGyGomPH7iUMKjaK38cDg2YlULizLZHLfvkMnrB7t45URJSa8giN0xet8V_7oRoH4jlblTBl55rNB9ZHus_DO9hk_9Ya1cre--O9C0VhDRiyg959lx9MfdyRA09NkGMZlogheXON36QVQ2mNOHZCzRqMqy36W8eLNyup8pE06RSoUgdTzclHrCrrsAhPePKsADAiENkOmK1-42NlDVWQ30Wr_T312LI8rYF4JwUdUXrfHZ0KokGUgE8JfvBCjA5742cF4F92gCTfBi-xdXDayqegm-nM0GarGNtfprAveKWkuzdjKLzW5Pvo3C3eVLBGz7LDE3Y5GsKCChaLWkXtvPkGFQ7J06KDcm8e21QjTOgty_bypsIf1Exb4L_Gmafrdl8c1gob30XRfoGus2LtP2pacuZr0utjjQOUQQZ0eOJLXB4zz9KJzpyX7tA8VgkGKVV5VBsID0n9DyPliy_oyywacOezEieRZJUHt_XSaNae5VoRCpI5ZApY8iUuHhhpAE3Hc1jkMPsH0Vk-tCPvAvnEg7TEOxTL-OPIw9qSo9AU/s1600/memorial02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="420" data-original-width="609" height="275" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-IanCBFfpB9s/XooP90hxDsI/AAAAAAAAFXo/6eBjAzNTgpE8uoS7qGarnAesNBCjymKOACEwYBhgLKs0DAMBZVoDAtdqeBTZbCuYDL-8Es7tS4BLJj8PadZQMSqLlpKnS7quU2OYvxNbm_ihpeKyaGyGomPH7iUMKjaK38cDg2YlULizLZHLfvkMnrB7t45URJSa8giN0xet8V_7oRoH4jlblTBl55rNB9ZHus_DO9hk_9Ya1cre--O9C0VhDRiyg959lx9MfdyRA09NkGMZlogheXON36QVQ2mNOHZCzRqMqy36W8eLNyup8pE06RSoUgdTzclHrCrrsAhPePKsADAiENkOmK1-42NlDVWQ30Wr_T312LI8rYF4JwUdUXrfHZ0KokGUgE8JfvBCjA5742cF4F92gCTfBi-xdXDayqegm-nM0GarGNtfprAveKWkuzdjKLzW5Pvo3C3eVLBGz7LDE3Y5GsKCChaLWkXtvPkGFQ7J06KDcm8e21QjTOgty_bypsIf1Exb4L_Gmafrdl8c1gob30XRfoGus2LtP2pacuZr0utjjQOUQQZ0eOJLXB4zz9KJzpyX7tA8VgkGKVV5VBsID0n9DyPliy_oyywacOezEieRZJUHt_XSaNae5VoRCpI5ZApY8iUuHhhpAE3Hc1jkMPsH0Vk-tCPvAvnEg7TEOxTL-OPIw9qSo9AU/s400/memorial02.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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In 1988 we met the original shoot-style six: Akira Maeda, Nobuhiko Takada, Kazuo Yamazaki, Yoji Anjo, Shigeo Miyato, and Tatsuo Nakano. In this year they would introduce the occasional foreign guest (Norman Smiley, Bob Backlund, Mark Rush, and Bart Vale) and wreck the career of their own trainees in one match (Tsunehito Naito). The jockeying for top slot was contested between Maeda and Takada, with Maeda seeing out the year as kingpin.</div>
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Things changed dramatically in 1989, and yet somehow remained the same. Akira Maeda beat all-comers to remain on top. However, the defections of Yoshiaki Fujiwara and his mentees Minoru Suzuki and Masakatsu Funaki from New Japan shook up the midcard scene considerably. Johnny Barrett was the only foreigner who would return time and again, though a number of memorable one-offs including Willy Wilhelm and Trevor 'Power' Clarke kept things fresh. Young trainee Kiyoshi Tamura excited and delighted in his few appearances, though he was hospitalised by Maeda in their brief bout in October.</div>
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The first four months of 1990 have already seen tectonic shifts in UWF. In January, <a href="http://kicksubmissionsuplex.blogspot.com/2019/04/uwf-16011990-with-90-1st-2031.html" target="_blank">Takada beats Maeda to return to the top of the company</a>. The second show of February sees <a href="http://kicksubmissionsuplex.blogspot.com/2018/07/uwf-27021990-road-2231.html" target="_blank">Fujiwara defeat Takada in an upset</a>, having himself lost to Maeda on the first show of February. Then, in April, <a href="http://kicksubmissionsuplex.blogspot.com/2018/02/uwf-15041990-fighting-area-2331.html" target="_blank">Kazuo Yamazaki defeats Fujiwara to springboard to the top of the company</a> (in my view; there are no metrics in UWF). Maeda and Takada continue to post wins in midcard, leaving the upper card of UWF in a much more chaotic and unpredictable state.</div>
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<i>bro im goin fkn nutz at this light show waooowww</i><br />
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Oh hello Connor I almost forgot you were there! Readers, welcome Connor aka @isalrightnow from Twitter! His words appear in italics in this entry. He's right too. An incredibly high level opening package with a new inspirational theme. The light show gone full on Aquatarkus here, like a huge curtain in the shape of an octopus getting pelted with lasers and Christmas lights. It's like Cheap Trick at Budokan only without Cheap Trick. Why is it that modern shows at Budokan look kind of dead (even with full house) and old ones look packed full and ready to seXXXplode? The fans clap rapturously and then THE FUCKING UWF THEME and god I've missed this of late.<br />
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OMG IT'S DICK VRIJ IN PAINT SPLATTER KICKBOXING TROUSERS AND SOME INSANE THING IN HIS EAR. The rest of our beloved cast turn up and I thiiiiiiiiiiiink this is Funaki's official return from injury. Fujiwara gets the biggest pop here by a country mile.</div>
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Maeda gives the pre-show oration with a bit less control than usual. His eyes were skittering like he consumed a big bag of sherbert. Then some weird stuff where Takada hands a man a big certificate and the man drops something and you can audibly hear the front 9 rows rolling their eyes. Seriously.</div>
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So, to <b>Dick (Leon) Vrij</b> once more, looking like the lead dancer for Utrecht hardbass troupe Slaag van Bootdje Boys that I just made up. One of his accomplices looks like he, err, has not missed lunch. He will be fighting the much smaller and eminently weird <b>Yoji Anjo</b>. Anjo pulls this face that is like "who is this guy?" Which is weird as Vrij has fought here before.</div>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ZBdPFhE3jx8/XooP_cMbPCI/AAAAAAAAFYY/SownvYW__RIDp3k80ZURPDA6GKAIdmFtgCEwYBhgLKs0DAMBZVoA4n2HzviO7njp17JkRzogOIZjdMGfUOP02wUy46ZaTEU9lv9wWNdFU9ApjhXlNk37kyNsXmMehGW71tZM7__Inqpol6R5d0BtNCe0gj9ETWvyOUHXoZF3JnYJd3gL-8aJ1doN2xZZ4Bv9aOMgc9Wk55gj-nS6mpTznpg7wNM_kbpsSfW5RQBjnJxxQQ7gKEGYiHf96SrFzM0uM--fgvnzjBqSSGEetEziaU1kJ8A3rhKT1lGE7QiX_gC7966THQP5JqmM7mBvZC5gc3IBJJ4FuxOW7r2Kgvdy0hMKbbetkVByak4QWI8wgQw8vPuKMAzRMHSEZ2s564JCt94MQ_6avPVLtuV_WT6k3m1v1u20sOnJw3uCtxq7sFHsHmFbqcnkO5oB_QsV-QHTK4-_LGc9l1VUBSZWNXMSA20n2GZRdvDWtG3DIjz1-QzFPrjid-NcRXVNN5nxF7GycaWMbyG-5B_mPNtuyj37XKzwPKi7-5gwLW-3vp4csVk07eVot54QNUbRB0WjZVrvSC3iGvPeVhuq19L4JgF4dPzL5lII408eU2GEBkNwIYjWC7RZhSyrgtlg0MyAjr92ggGlX9bvAoEBRDICe5YEwpqWo9AU/s1600/memorial07.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="419" data-original-width="602" height="221" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ZBdPFhE3jx8/XooP_cMbPCI/AAAAAAAAFYY/SownvYW__RIDp3k80ZURPDA6GKAIdmFtgCEwYBhgLKs0DAMBZVoA4n2HzviO7njp17JkRzogOIZjdMGfUOP02wUy46ZaTEU9lv9wWNdFU9ApjhXlNk37kyNsXmMehGW71tZM7__Inqpol6R5d0BtNCe0gj9ETWvyOUHXoZF3JnYJd3gL-8aJ1doN2xZZ4Bv9aOMgc9Wk55gj-nS6mpTznpg7wNM_kbpsSfW5RQBjnJxxQQ7gKEGYiHf96SrFzM0uM--fgvnzjBqSSGEetEziaU1kJ8A3rhKT1lGE7QiX_gC7966THQP5JqmM7mBvZC5gc3IBJJ4FuxOW7r2Kgvdy0hMKbbetkVByak4QWI8wgQw8vPuKMAzRMHSEZ2s564JCt94MQ_6avPVLtuV_WT6k3m1v1u20sOnJw3uCtxq7sFHsHmFbqcnkO5oB_QsV-QHTK4-_LGc9l1VUBSZWNXMSA20n2GZRdvDWtG3DIjz1-QzFPrjid-NcRXVNN5nxF7GycaWMbyG-5B_mPNtuyj37XKzwPKi7-5gwLW-3vp4csVk07eVot54QNUbRB0WjZVrvSC3iGvPeVhuq19L4JgF4dPzL5lII408eU2GEBkNwIYjWC7RZhSyrgtlg0MyAjr92ggGlX9bvAoEBRDICe5YEwpqWo9AU/s320/memorial07.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<i>Dick Vrij really stands out among his Dutch peers as a guy who is into fighting in order to fuck people up without any real recourse. He shoves, he piefaces, he instigates, and then that's when he starts striking. His strikes feel like what a terminator would strike like. Just perfect balance, precision and impact. <br /><br />Yoji Anjo (here, merely Mr. 134%) responds well to the instigating, and his grappling attempts such as the headlock takeover are admirable in their skill. He stands up for himself and his own dignity. But then Dick will throw out some palm strikes or do a beautiful leg sweep that makes you think Anjo doesn't have much of a chance. Dick's presence is to be adored precisely because it creates such an inevitability in his fights. <br /><br />The onslaught he performs to get the win is so stark and arresting. It's the sort of thing that makes you go from "cmon anjo you can do it!" to "oh, oh no. anjo is dead" Dream-dissipating levels of brutality.</i><br />
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Yes what interests me is that Anjo clearly has not yet embraced his true calling as shoot-style jobber. Of course he gets annihilated down the stretch, but there is a solid quarter-hour of making you think he has a chance of beating this West Teuton strike machine. Good match and definitely the best I've seen from a Dutchman in UWF.<i> </i><br />
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<i><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4gkiNIQJqvs" target="_blank">Reminiscent of Goeido vs. Harumafuji from 2016 Aki Basho</a>: Nakano, adopting a peculiar but undeniable stance, stares into Yamazaki's soul. (editor: <b>Kazuo) Yamazaki</b> stares right back sans hesitation as the crowd immediately recognise the magnitude, the electricity of this moment. </i><br />
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Yeah <b>(Tatsuo) Nakano</b> is practically strutting in there isn't he? Circling the ring as if to say "I own this place" despite his W/L record being something like 9-14. It's actually very pro-wrestling and I love when those bits creep in as much as "woah this is a real murder technique". <i> </i><br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Ql-gTFZEpFU/XooP-2EJcII/AAAAAAAAFYc/kvnUsn2rDvgh6WE23h6EwzHsbQ_YB9VTACEwYBhgLKs0DAMBZVoCWD9YAuJmqEUDW-063cCiySVkJybf6mmxa97o5BXwnpbjouIG9pJ7vlqBzKHNrL_mHxGnhptUubqcNl0hfIK-gw_GdkMYrX3mUyGiWgIYoFF0SIIVqkJ-fXgwK6_OTklvquW0Y30NDi9sLR0gZHluQ73yHRdCU3BVUozb3DeKqvdMtBg1dahIRZAYQE_3PNZ1xCFAo4IETzD6_D_EvAPdEdhz8GUMApEK90Tpkhld600BnUeHB8x1ZT_oW21NuhHxsoauDcDIB1R-XTj9hnYD-04ziBYkrDVB3Q0Pkfkmlx_ygaxsrM6TLShhpx_CAWsa3gOn-QiCbt52TQlvOu22qNsG3KTqFjXtWZFZ8yZBNclv_XkJ31vdFlooU--MP7JO8q00JISt5CDUwcnZ-orMZ50_i6bEl2Ou4742C0es6GCZKRTxBiDUEoEx3moCUGbJd1zjt8DNAzsgBGhIQkVz-Xu8HO7jOSu9AU_kjha3GAkqN5yBk8ZZjtFty3wVYPSeR_mWhlv4NsXHXH8F87ThMSAWc-Q2JGxuw2Rbw7qRTI12ClKeead32cZlmyru2mX6mh64W7OUSHGY8OK1YPxDVu2ESdkYIXyYw66Wo9AU/s1600/memorial05.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="429" data-original-width="603" height="283" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Ql-gTFZEpFU/XooP-2EJcII/AAAAAAAAFYc/kvnUsn2rDvgh6WE23h6EwzHsbQ_YB9VTACEwYBhgLKs0DAMBZVoCWD9YAuJmqEUDW-063cCiySVkJybf6mmxa97o5BXwnpbjouIG9pJ7vlqBzKHNrL_mHxGnhptUubqcNl0hfIK-gw_GdkMYrX3mUyGiWgIYoFF0SIIVqkJ-fXgwK6_OTklvquW0Y30NDi9sLR0gZHluQ73yHRdCU3BVUozb3DeKqvdMtBg1dahIRZAYQE_3PNZ1xCFAo4IETzD6_D_EvAPdEdhz8GUMApEK90Tpkhld600BnUeHB8x1ZT_oW21NuhHxsoauDcDIB1R-XTj9hnYD-04ziBYkrDVB3Q0Pkfkmlx_ygaxsrM6TLShhpx_CAWsa3gOn-QiCbt52TQlvOu22qNsG3KTqFjXtWZFZ8yZBNclv_XkJ31vdFlooU--MP7JO8q00JISt5CDUwcnZ-orMZ50_i6bEl2Ou4742C0es6GCZKRTxBiDUEoEx3moCUGbJd1zjt8DNAzsgBGhIQkVz-Xu8HO7jOSu9AU_kjha3GAkqN5yBk8ZZjtFty3wVYPSeR_mWhlv4NsXHXH8F87ThMSAWc-Q2JGxuw2Rbw7qRTI12ClKeead32cZlmyru2mX6mh64W7OUSHGY8OK1YPxDVu2ESdkYIXyYw66Wo9AU/s400/memorial05.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<i><br />Nakano has similar chemistry with most but there's something about Yamazaki's trademark demeanor reacting to his antics that feels so perfect. Nakano is always doing something; An elbow on the cheekbone, a headbutt to the jaw, batting away an inquiring hand looking for a knuckle lock, all stuff that would really piss you off if you were in there with him. Yamazaki happens to be in there with him so he unloads on Nakano from time to time with such explosiveness, such fury. </i><br />
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The bit where Nakano has Yamazaki's kicking leg while Yama slap-flurries him made me legitimately wince.<i><br /></i>
<i><br />All of Nakano's animus begs for someone to go "fuck you too" and Yamazaki delivers it, and in a way that feels like he's not letting Nakano throw him off, it just becomes imperative that he takes a second to middle kick this asshole and his tomato nose before trying a submission. </i><br />
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Nakano's ripe nose is as much a gift to pro-wrestling as Ric Flair's hair and easy-bleeding forehead is.<br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-BGNRno7mBu4/XooP_lsUh2I/AAAAAAAAFYc/HEfD8huB0A41PATvCReNjq4zGmXvgh52ACEwYBhgLKs0DAMBZVoBvVGabv6WmAr6u__lKrMiOrfBr50CdFcDRbh4AuGQWjGKex88DaNMhpomTGljNoXz8EW120n8eDG_vVE4aI4i_n3FSHkYwgVf8fBBfbTAlr_f9PWRQ9mueXYpi09qc1RyGBx3SUrd9RTgySvAkGOpH2aKSI99lYd4xt3HLzpNY8-mYnlgg8eHHRwU6bwGt4JImV50PEqcfJXaYyhEbRfw2crPjM9dEjprpTHaBxvdv_bV9EPUpo-UZi9SjQE_KbRzqqyiQIV8n9eFtUZ08NZEM0szn8NO78pd5OnJ6jyr-sRbf9E7xnJxRvAzelRNHx6tePhMZSF92ZFbbdLHFpNmihBPVAbl07WkRUxdvU9_diPebHcKRMFr7DVowc3QvWWFkq_LMCQdN1VNPl3Sm_g6wtNnp3zuzFcQoiQrR37XSpiH7bH9LIcySmaKL96Fy6bdwJEin6BoPf59ZM-GNBQNSh9IvZgEJg2TRpG0QTiaNnM84NoNFxhQFMJeee5359CJanxp5q4k15ou8WEBClATCfk_MrkwtyHh_ctfbfJX6BmBwaX9i0AUl-qO7BiOsJ8jpmMd3I1CtdeM-RmanP-SvEUCzSEbnDmgw-6Wo9AU/s1600/memorial10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="417" data-original-width="612" height="272" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-BGNRno7mBu4/XooP_lsUh2I/AAAAAAAAFYc/HEfD8huB0A41PATvCReNjq4zGmXvgh52ACEwYBhgLKs0DAMBZVoBvVGabv6WmAr6u__lKrMiOrfBr50CdFcDRbh4AuGQWjGKex88DaNMhpomTGljNoXz8EW120n8eDG_vVE4aI4i_n3FSHkYwgVf8fBBfbTAlr_f9PWRQ9mueXYpi09qc1RyGBx3SUrd9RTgySvAkGOpH2aKSI99lYd4xt3HLzpNY8-mYnlgg8eHHRwU6bwGt4JImV50PEqcfJXaYyhEbRfw2crPjM9dEjprpTHaBxvdv_bV9EPUpo-UZi9SjQE_KbRzqqyiQIV8n9eFtUZ08NZEM0szn8NO78pd5OnJ6jyr-sRbf9E7xnJxRvAzelRNHx6tePhMZSF92ZFbbdLHFpNmihBPVAbl07WkRUxdvU9_diPebHcKRMFr7DVowc3QvWWFkq_LMCQdN1VNPl3Sm_g6wtNnp3zuzFcQoiQrR37XSpiH7bH9LIcySmaKL96Fy6bdwJEin6BoPf59ZM-GNBQNSh9IvZgEJg2TRpG0QTiaNnM84NoNFxhQFMJeee5359CJanxp5q4k15ou8WEBClATCfk_MrkwtyHh_ctfbfJX6BmBwaX9i0AUl-qO7BiOsJ8jpmMd3I1CtdeM-RmanP-SvEUCzSEbnDmgw-6Wo9AU/s400/memorial10.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<i>I really loved as well when Nakano did a front chancery and afterwards did a slap/Hashimoto chop to Yamazaki's face for no raisin. An impeccable fight.</i><br />
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For me it is the beautiful and poetic way that Nakano looks for an entry into kesa-gatame as an entry to a headbutt. That is thinking outside of the strictures of the Kodokan. I wonder if Steve Austin ever saw Nakano. I honestly wouldn't be surprised. Mounting Yamazaki and jaw-jacking as he smothers his opponent with blows.<br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-b28sOjWG7kg/XooUUAVdQqI/AAAAAAAAFZE/CU26fwVoJKAylRtXKnpo_zqVT4eEJCOHwCEwYBhgLKs0DAMBZVoBHTMADEJJtMuRrAUvMTNrKe2drOhIJoRwhjZR96KQyMuX8u_R0lxM72AVOy1hBEI3rAleedRqsUOsKdp6wAKpqga0EB7VDgWx7lzQ5h6pzrZrKwC-kFRMXoxtz5dN3NLVHBeu7L8_mFMkVAOqyCxML0Z6H-lJ7QlNbFo-M2OXhD9UBTHTkv-MkQX9561toViCpPGoZrKn2yDOsN0MHyW8poECNBHPHfFsm5OaCdDUdGl22NKptohLEORCHc_tDuZ1mHIhWRUbwfw62ImIWpEUaIb-irK5wAvql_wBj2t8XdDWNsXu0N4SCb3RAhKNBOoIwtEI5Dso1yAebdoggMMa0d5S4oo60lkAFYB1ORChrgufYZP_G-veC-1Xc57u3MCj-uC454INS6d3VpOBguAD0qeJQhriKuX3kIAW_1D3H5qEU3VUJv44LdsYolZd56wRszrvjF7OmdJcxtkvWaxu4KXuEJO-PtFgJ4vL47kjE9aavICi-To0hdpnv8cb4aiHHYMmuIW-lE8RIH40XtusVXP8STywdjFgoCMPLfRHP4zDip6bRmQ2NkKprrdGZRbAJf4IKPUAqLv6ZTk2lHXym53AuQyNRg-8wzq6o9AU/s1600/memorial12.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="430" data-original-width="592" height="290" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-b28sOjWG7kg/XooUUAVdQqI/AAAAAAAAFZE/CU26fwVoJKAylRtXKnpo_zqVT4eEJCOHwCEwYBhgLKs0DAMBZVoBHTMADEJJtMuRrAUvMTNrKe2drOhIJoRwhjZR96KQyMuX8u_R0lxM72AVOy1hBEI3rAleedRqsUOsKdp6wAKpqga0EB7VDgWx7lzQ5h6pzrZrKwC-kFRMXoxtz5dN3NLVHBeu7L8_mFMkVAOqyCxML0Z6H-lJ7QlNbFo-M2OXhD9UBTHTkv-MkQX9561toViCpPGoZrKn2yDOsN0MHyW8poECNBHPHfFsm5OaCdDUdGl22NKptohLEORCHc_tDuZ1mHIhWRUbwfw62ImIWpEUaIb-irK5wAvql_wBj2t8XdDWNsXu0N4SCb3RAhKNBOoIwtEI5Dso1yAebdoggMMa0d5S4oo60lkAFYB1ORChrgufYZP_G-veC-1Xc57u3MCj-uC454INS6d3VpOBguAD0qeJQhriKuX3kIAW_1D3H5qEU3VUJv44LdsYolZd56wRszrvjF7OmdJcxtkvWaxu4KXuEJO-PtFgJ4vL47kjE9aavICi-To0hdpnv8cb4aiHHYMmuIW-lE8RIH40XtusVXP8STywdjFgoCMPLfRHP4zDip6bRmQ2NkKprrdGZRbAJf4IKPUAqLv6ZTk2lHXym53AuQyNRg-8wzq6o9AU/s400/memorial12.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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This match was really great too. The fans were just all YAYAYAYAYAY when anyone did anything approaching violence. Yamazaki dispatches Nakano quite efficiently in the end because that's pretty much what Nakano does: lose in violent style.<br />
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I received a new comment under the first post on this blog from the user QVA, who writes:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
I got into this style watching Pancrase on VHS. Then I found Mike
Lorfice and his site and its a gold mine of puroresu. When I got a full
show of the UWF, I was blown away. You could tell who stars were and who
the next star was going to be. Funaki. </blockquote>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Lv1xhsfrhpo/XooP-_R5rgI/AAAAAAAAFYU/f5Me5BgsY6kLQ8cOsDBFCKu7oTpjbDRfACEwYBhgLKs0DAMBZVoAqtkPhGOYkEM6fvfV0DAQTwqPT6bsE1yldqRvHMfsOYoz5vqTmSCaE6p1S4gRwFsaxp3InboMPFwF2rLeLYprkX0-znECHKGNuvOIsxYdyc3DF8L4hHfQN99HwDAqOAVGOrHDTxR3aDI-RYtRZFQyV5pLe-dRt-Cj10LHwIamq_OLnVdvkQQyrt5kxm3YMYRWELZ5AzYTE6Xtf6g_9rYuK5WzMCd2ToSuQSrVX1rLo5uDRt8lkGMkRPXsW64zThMujYEVkorcZjHUvwj74MvMaREYOZGDyPTJTVjKeSkWiYppI7AcOHA35oMWaBRleZd9Lo90ZxSKm-YpkVN7S5V2fyewPGxBPE0uzPgUfEg7bV0AVdXMGTzHbwTk7SzTs7SYWNXiWf72VKXNDKiDO9K8PAytZrL88dyIpb-Ik3XxI_H8arYTOikaLFQkdRs9VvRmgtRrTyc7TcPt2rT8sTEF5Lnx0c-L-1JfLO8jfUb1MIIwzDdEEJEzH8xX38k6k3s3gszVcInXukV1AXza2HEcCmCPxKoCd9o5pjpBZ3PJkBatgg3t6_jk8D150v2mS3Cvi2civQk42hIjlZfqrEtEprrul0nYPzPQw7qao9AU/s1600/memorial06.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="422" data-original-width="609" height="276" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Lv1xhsfrhpo/XooP-_R5rgI/AAAAAAAAFYU/f5Me5BgsY6kLQ8cOsDBFCKu7oTpjbDRfACEwYBhgLKs0DAMBZVoAqtkPhGOYkEM6fvfV0DAQTwqPT6bsE1yldqRvHMfsOYoz5vqTmSCaE6p1S4gRwFsaxp3InboMPFwF2rLeLYprkX0-znECHKGNuvOIsxYdyc3DF8L4hHfQN99HwDAqOAVGOrHDTxR3aDI-RYtRZFQyV5pLe-dRt-Cj10LHwIamq_OLnVdvkQQyrt5kxm3YMYRWELZ5AzYTE6Xtf6g_9rYuK5WzMCd2ToSuQSrVX1rLo5uDRt8lkGMkRPXsW64zThMujYEVkorcZjHUvwj74MvMaREYOZGDyPTJTVjKeSkWiYppI7AcOHA35oMWaBRleZd9Lo90ZxSKm-YpkVN7S5V2fyewPGxBPE0uzPgUfEg7bV0AVdXMGTzHbwTk7SzTs7SYWNXiWf72VKXNDKiDO9K8PAytZrL88dyIpb-Ik3XxI_H8arYTOikaLFQkdRs9VvRmgtRrTyc7TcPt2rT8sTEF5Lnx0c-L-1JfLO8jfUb1MIIwzDdEEJEzH8xX38k6k3s3gszVcInXukV1AXza2HEcCmCPxKoCd9o5pjpBZ3PJkBatgg3t6_jk8D150v2mS3Cvi2civQk42hIjlZfqrEtEprrul0nYPzPQw7qao9AU/s400/memorial06.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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That feels pretty fair even watching in reverse and knowing <b>Masakatsu Funaki</b> already is a star by the time of Pancrase: he exudes princeliness. Here he is wearing some shiny silver trunks which are probably too knowing in their starriness to be honest. Dial it back. Return to lemon.<br />
<br />
Aesthetic considerations aside, Funaki's return to the UWF ring gives him an easy task, surely? No. He's fighting <b>Akira Maeda</b>.<br />
<i><br />Funaki wearing wrestling boots (which if you're bad at wrestling you apparently have no clue how to lace up) is strange. Maeda is a jerk. When he's on top, he'll just paw at Funaki's temple in a way that almost brings to mind Sakuraba. These shots testing the waters, after which he decides to just start hammering.</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
Unless Maeda is going to kick the face clean off a trainee his matches do tend to be patterned around this early silence punctuated a rippling kick that makes everyone go WOOOAAARRGGGGGG, it's like he revels in this dynamic until the moment he gets bored and starts throwing Capture Suplexes for fun.<br />
<i><br />Funaki's response reveals this dynamic, perfect in nature, where this young guy with such heart responds to this old chubby bully's potshots by exploding with amazing flurries. I saw Survival Tobita reply to a GIF of this match with a derogatory "That's Copycats MMA!!" and yes it's true but it's fucking good.</i><br />
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A total aside but I like how Survival Tobita is an acceptable problematic Twitter guy because he does seem genuinely demented and hardcore and doesn't give a fuck about anything other than getting paid. But yeah Funaki is showing babyface fire in there when he's not sitting in kesa-gatame looking smug.<br />
<i><br />The ring being mic'd up is great, hearing Maeda mumble as he palms someone in the face maliciously is very immersive. It's like I am right there in the press area seeing him beat up Sakata for having the nerve to sit down. </i>(LOL) <i>Funaki getting up from the suplex then immediately being cut off with a choke feels so prowres. Maeda's ability to do fake fighting tropes in his fake-but-real fighting is something most will never recognise and praise him for. </i><br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zb4XY4SU_vs/XooUUI0AiyI/AAAAAAAAFYk/TnneATYfCk05c55WlnflKkbyqXzbXJ5FQCEwYBhgLKs0DAMBZVoCOAOSMkEjLm6m81-HLm-Hpm5LTIV73SiCKKWT02Sv2f5UdRwy0HqbsM61bFcndHP3M-cUo7zj91XOyjiWtJouuz2SZlYgJgXRSfxp2A1pmpBxSjAJ8JB3-46eSPN_lP9WqIEZ3Rq2_likqZHsfRfXp6GHZmsukQ4OGPnrG9o6TZX60s8sTW7CiKwL05BlCGnn00F0pdjt-e77ltZbPC8l1TBe0InNcMLKXLuZbtUox4u99u1SikWQ5831v-cgd6k_e0i0pSRonfcOg5pkmLWfQEPO4hX3OSIlFH8q1NQQoBkYkW6MGDuHt-zi_GCA34XUQFryWgkZJaDke2REas2aZ14LzOAIyPnzQtkXgea9EW3V2XHG6DBrfzuXDYbMzEJ0FCGv8G2QaIvkN0x0geQ3WpHK98d_7xgzu75A1dhcfaAXV6vbsXU01Abky07LO_EgKr1Q-xN9qocseQL3gD3aw0N-Lrd82A7UM8x2JuXHRPgqnFNoGI3jTHbjFGyqQtfGa4b1Pc9qOanPx2niPzBAVG_n6Gsv3d5F_Lj1tMiIeQ7IUcTH37RqBPe_x-FHtl2fYuMxSQZwOre6oKz7kYl9XnqfrNyQ24e0w1a2o9AU/s1600/memorial13.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="426" data-original-width="424" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zb4XY4SU_vs/XooUUI0AiyI/AAAAAAAAFYk/TnneATYfCk05c55WlnflKkbyqXzbXJ5FQCEwYBhgLKs0DAMBZVoCOAOSMkEjLm6m81-HLm-Hpm5LTIV73SiCKKWT02Sv2f5UdRwy0HqbsM61bFcndHP3M-cUo7zj91XOyjiWtJouuz2SZlYgJgXRSfxp2A1pmpBxSjAJ8JB3-46eSPN_lP9WqIEZ3Rq2_likqZHsfRfXp6GHZmsukQ4OGPnrG9o6TZX60s8sTW7CiKwL05BlCGnn00F0pdjt-e77ltZbPC8l1TBe0InNcMLKXLuZbtUox4u99u1SikWQ5831v-cgd6k_e0i0pSRonfcOg5pkmLWfQEPO4hX3OSIlFH8q1NQQoBkYkW6MGDuHt-zi_GCA34XUQFryWgkZJaDke2REas2aZ14LzOAIyPnzQtkXgea9EW3V2XHG6DBrfzuXDYbMzEJ0FCGv8G2QaIvkN0x0geQ3WpHK98d_7xgzu75A1dhcfaAXV6vbsXU01Abky07LO_EgKr1Q-xN9qocseQL3gD3aw0N-Lrd82A7UM8x2JuXHRPgqnFNoGI3jTHbjFGyqQtfGa4b1Pc9qOanPx2niPzBAVG_n6Gsv3d5F_Lj1tMiIeQ7IUcTH37RqBPe_x-FHtl2fYuMxSQZwOre6oKz7kYl9XnqfrNyQ24e0w1a2o9AU/s400/memorial13.jpg" width="397" /></a></div>
<br />
This is where I ask everyone to respect the expanded canon of shoot-style blogs and consider Maeda's entry into "real" shoots in RINGS. It is one thing to speak of worked-shoot (fake real-looking wrestling) and shoot (real fighting) but Maeda's mentality seems to find a niche between even these two closely-related things. He just has the aura to smash you around the head for real in a worked match and get away with it (in both the aesthetic and legal sense).<br />
<br />
That all said I wasn't too crazy about this match. Quite a lot of Maeda's slightly ponderous groundwork. You could hear the cat-calls in the crowd and the audience chuckling at them. They wake up when Maeda goes crazy with knees and Funaki downs Maeda with a strike flurry. But it's a bit sporadic. Maeda puts Funaki down with a kick and then chokes him for the win.<br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-JTgGfFvniI0/XooUUHhAK0I/AAAAAAAAFYs/TyaGOSi5VmYW7xEjCY7F5gHaHnwIXlrvwCEwYBhgLKs0DAMBZVoBxGXdt2QsN6souBRfNdLZipZUfRlpV7e5_5Fz9LSAlhb465lOAUOlq5tlYoqJXhPL3SLsySDGhwJYVX39KwmiNHtSQZ03P5R_P72Anx9zL_hOdxI2dEG0OYIIfrs4UM65Wg4yMiRgqwRf-k7Uc-5W_Hn6oGV05OmrOJ2M0jIA39XfmtXM-1Fn7JPl1uPiOGDHSbDih7woTRqlzWsAJHu4tkr0Nw2KaoygWDfuHWHI1CY9VTRgAJDARa1zq9tXWx9C3F0rNgj6RgEwoxGCNKT-lytjWSbwQLG-GUTO9gL9yH4H4bLfhTWHqboVaEhpGkNPVz2HDjZF5xFgLDfhDCsRGK2VgzYyrV7JdG22ojPLLXYePBLcKCCA4k1aXJG51nyq4diCISNFUGYDuqcTKAhdheQrxLOv7QsoVWE5Rjej-F3kanJJNEcuYWJX8J7RP8auwqrZaz6ZxuUcOz6BvhaS61ZTOpIUZ1IbD9avYqSckVoKBhf1dFINqTFVPrimRbbLczny5FQt3J479TpLwruh6tOhpZ3N3lWKHCjPzb905d59gkQAq-SpSYiVZGeeC56QC6eZvI6Bzib3L5i_ZKh9VDiOjgZ44aRkw4q2o9AU/s1600/memorial14.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="413" data-original-width="609" height="271" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-JTgGfFvniI0/XooUUHhAK0I/AAAAAAAAFYs/TyaGOSi5VmYW7xEjCY7F5gHaHnwIXlrvwCEwYBhgLKs0DAMBZVoBxGXdt2QsN6souBRfNdLZipZUfRlpV7e5_5Fz9LSAlhb465lOAUOlq5tlYoqJXhPL3SLsySDGhwJYVX39KwmiNHtSQZ03P5R_P72Anx9zL_hOdxI2dEG0OYIIfrs4UM65Wg4yMiRgqwRf-k7Uc-5W_Hn6oGV05OmrOJ2M0jIA39XfmtXM-1Fn7JPl1uPiOGDHSbDih7woTRqlzWsAJHu4tkr0Nw2KaoygWDfuHWHI1CY9VTRgAJDARa1zq9tXWx9C3F0rNgj6RgEwoxGCNKT-lytjWSbwQLG-GUTO9gL9yH4H4bLfhTWHqboVaEhpGkNPVz2HDjZF5xFgLDfhDCsRGK2VgzYyrV7JdG22ojPLLXYePBLcKCCA4k1aXJG51nyq4diCISNFUGYDuqcTKAhdheQrxLOv7QsoVWE5Rjej-F3kanJJNEcuYWJX8J7RP8auwqrZaz6ZxuUcOz6BvhaS61ZTOpIUZ1IbD9avYqSckVoKBhf1dFINqTFVPrimRbbLczny5FQt3J479TpLwruh6tOhpZ3N3lWKHCjPzb905d59gkQAq-SpSYiVZGeeC56QC6eZvI6Bzib3L5i_ZKh9VDiOjgZ44aRkw4q2o9AU/s400/memorial14.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<i>I also liked hearing both say "no," when asked "gibapp??"</i><br />
<br />
LOL this happens a lot.<i> </i><br />
<br />
----<br />
<i> </i><br />
<i>Bulking season <b>Takada</b>, with the thick neck and chubby cheeks like a very handsome hamster, perhaps my favourite look of his. Were I his grandma I would come into the room, see him and be like "ohh Janice ye didn't say ye were bringing Tom Cruise along wae ye!!"</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i></i><br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Uqa4ohdmN3A/XooUU5NfivI/AAAAAAAAFYw/LsOTRCVrbTAb93CiI0K2Q_KGRsQfgKqnACEwYBhgLKs0DAMBZVoCyE01E3wj1ANwknEG0kTaeLXALJh34i4iNTY5eKgPquuLnm7J4qM9FAQLz1MnldmRoHTMIPLnwSZ2RCC6rtW2TaoeNfLMJYSoRjzjr9WncICLuD9q1JNHbqwYQ87T-kYXCAePOeCBglnvRWJPtoRE9i6x3Hw7r3ZfNrySNEza7pEPT0jB_rIxxyjTiax6OUZKh4qJWp8vGGmDzS4NhDZpBX4WNg2kykDI-0DHrAkG_abJG6pTCz9bkydapNAoHo7hlwv8S5dDvMmF--dEzYtJDTtJrcscbXCUMlk-AAsGMrIgBgNQZZx3z0743mBYcs3WYUqhHr8H7vJmx1-BdYPF5Kxl4aiW5CTWk-BZBZakaYk6nE-kBs1VKUecM9a095JD1kk0UCIrFfSJzikLYRBMDwkRdBpIqETiHZRmGHfWJtbzKljA-qmGH9jFVyBmgN3BlxXmZ5RwRj3RElr9gQh6upNJhN_GuAjSxTTiz7SWGAyIOTNeVNnoy2vWAnW2I2sD8EHOa_xe_ZyKQsVkPSXA_bcxRWFGfU_qV64Wja1F8S2yKZDCjanysho9iXIrVOl5724mJMOV0DB55MOqOy_cdpy3TN4-HosIw762o9AU/s1600/memorial15.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="427" data-original-width="607" height="281" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Uqa4ohdmN3A/XooUU5NfivI/AAAAAAAAFYw/LsOTRCVrbTAb93CiI0K2Q_KGRsQfgKqnACEwYBhgLKs0DAMBZVoCyE01E3wj1ANwknEG0kTaeLXALJh34i4iNTY5eKgPquuLnm7J4qM9FAQLz1MnldmRoHTMIPLnwSZ2RCC6rtW2TaoeNfLMJYSoRjzjr9WncICLuD9q1JNHbqwYQ87T-kYXCAePOeCBglnvRWJPtoRE9i6x3Hw7r3ZfNrySNEza7pEPT0jB_rIxxyjTiax6OUZKh4qJWp8vGGmDzS4NhDZpBX4WNg2kykDI-0DHrAkG_abJG6pTCz9bkydapNAoHo7hlwv8S5dDvMmF--dEzYtJDTtJrcscbXCUMlk-AAsGMrIgBgNQZZx3z0743mBYcs3WYUqhHr8H7vJmx1-BdYPF5Kxl4aiW5CTWk-BZBZakaYk6nE-kBs1VKUecM9a095JD1kk0UCIrFfSJzikLYRBMDwkRdBpIqETiHZRmGHfWJtbzKljA-qmGH9jFVyBmgN3BlxXmZ5RwRj3RElr9gQh6upNJhN_GuAjSxTTiz7SWGAyIOTNeVNnoy2vWAnW2I2sD8EHOa_xe_ZyKQsVkPSXA_bcxRWFGfU_qV64Wja1F8S2yKZDCjanysho9iXIrVOl5724mJMOV0DB55MOqOy_cdpy3TN4-HosIw762o9AU/s400/memorial15.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<i><b>Minoru Suzuki</b> meanwhile is inexplicably decked out in Kobashi gear, making me wonder what he'd be like if he came up under Baba. "He would probably know how to do a bump" my only confident observation.<br /><br />This match doesn't have the bati-bati quality the preceding three have. These two are calm, cautious and wary of one another, so it is a lot of grappling and trying to get a position like mount or a waistlock and just holding onto it. I didn't appreciate it as much as the rest of the show, but if you're reading this you might be less bloodthirsty than I and thus be more up for it.<br /><br />I did like Takada subverting literal decades of shoot style by doing the "you heel hooked me? ah i will just heel hook you too how about that!!" except it actually worked and tapped Suzuki out. Takada stronger than Ryouji Sai.</i><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2LavzAzWlWo/XooUVZVvCTI/AAAAAAAAFY0/bA-inubcm58HlBlb7bHN0LXeIqKKL2a-wCEwYBhgLKs0DAMBZVoCx9yVRJltJxb_O8m06o8DkfIydDk12BcSZbEAyMDh6JHINGUskB8-JkmZnHfj94F7TYq4HKsp3wXmsZQ9gOHMHZ3iZNMuZopl3PxpbXcf1X60HZYZcrAf0KkfGCBsdsHnAtJmwBwDzF1c-5LAM9dq7NsTwsUIpVb6-V6rpzUWxw7bryTPUXnTBWTqJobCmYaiBKXiVfUyAQQ2GIe299DTj7ogmAbj1FdE4gg2GGsZHUeWgk0QzjjrU8lqyQrmIO-RsGxhWhbAnSyoMMM6P7I5Sroa54rt6eDgUGoDrcxhls-HqR2igmfqw7gSY9vxHUQVFEs88chorbhtUIukhbBhcP52aRUEZT1TMow7MOQb2zUmxJKojJRogkCUaPxHuK-VUNAFoWPjxtpY2Z126eAniQF7v_IDfyZq8hJDlfWksX_G0y38j0jhj_n_5fIIwHeSrWulRKIzb3fdT5f4bImjLAQleTDpBQ2T-RPCfuWwZbiKQll7MpzNm8NIIdqzN0fbWSe0Hq9d3dmks--PM-upUDFAYlxosD8W4lHuO66UnwIoqlEzStIuheWxv2cWdgATJJYxy50gGRR_DtZRAWF6dBizp_kfDRlow_62o9AU/s1600/memorial17.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="418" data-original-width="601" height="277" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2LavzAzWlWo/XooUVZVvCTI/AAAAAAAAFY0/bA-inubcm58HlBlb7bHN0LXeIqKKL2a-wCEwYBhgLKs0DAMBZVoCx9yVRJltJxb_O8m06o8DkfIydDk12BcSZbEAyMDh6JHINGUskB8-JkmZnHfj94F7TYq4HKsp3wXmsZQ9gOHMHZ3iZNMuZopl3PxpbXcf1X60HZYZcrAf0KkfGCBsdsHnAtJmwBwDzF1c-5LAM9dq7NsTwsUIpVb6-V6rpzUWxw7bryTPUXnTBWTqJobCmYaiBKXiVfUyAQQ2GIe299DTj7ogmAbj1FdE4gg2GGsZHUeWgk0QzjjrU8lqyQrmIO-RsGxhWhbAnSyoMMM6P7I5Sroa54rt6eDgUGoDrcxhls-HqR2igmfqw7gSY9vxHUQVFEs88chorbhtUIukhbBhcP52aRUEZT1TMow7MOQb2zUmxJKojJRogkCUaPxHuK-VUNAFoWPjxtpY2Z126eAniQF7v_IDfyZq8hJDlfWksX_G0y38j0jhj_n_5fIIwHeSrWulRKIzb3fdT5f4bImjLAQleTDpBQ2T-RPCfuWwZbiKQll7MpzNm8NIIdqzN0fbWSe0Hq9d3dmks--PM-upUDFAYlxosD8W4lHuO66UnwIoqlEzStIuheWxv2cWdgATJJYxy50gGRR_DtZRAWF6dBizp_kfDRlow_62o9AU/s400/memorial17.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">TAMURA SIGHTING</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
I let Connor take that match pretty much in entirety because I thought it was fairly staid work. Might even venture to say it wasn't very good at all. Takada is a brutish striker: his grappling is utterly superfluous.<br />
<br />
Fortunately it's the shortest match of the night, though all of them are between 13-18 mins long. Kind of a mixed bag thus far!<br />
<br />
-----<br />
<br />
The main event sees Murderdad <b>Yoshiaki Fujiwara </b>take on UFC 1-0 veteran (winning an opening round match in the tournament at UFC2 but pulling out of the next round) <b>Frank Hamaker</b> (although in some places he is known by the <i>sobriquet faux </i>Fred Hamaker. There's a muted applause pre-match as Frank slaps himself in the face as way of psych-up. He has a squat look, like a bulkier Dynamite Kid, with a more pummelled nose. He wears a red wrestling singlet and is noticeably huger than his opponent.<br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Sy8rOL-L4Vg/XooP9_WTRTI/AAAAAAAAFYM/zljhm1vMeooneOtuu74iHTyaz0wN83czACEwYBhgLKs0DAMBZVoBqJq_Bd8Cr_IUK4aOqJMxK9mCfiadZpmq-nbopGxng9vyn8opVvG9kcfeNjmqpL1RIqzU1vbrdU8fSsZI03YcH_grM-6E0KoJ8SJ4pOyBtAUkaBD5_Dpj_5B20DB_sY10LtM-iaxBWUrxjUUGgJMmZLOIw_471x9KPyJHwhMLMvPQZJwzKD3gLGSe7yhZTLXXGPo7LZ1eOZ_-67DB_RAY9JQFeGomRk6p5hxgrHRCifVOoeQleArIrkapOpBpD5nMHqbjMuh5-0wg6L59Q9gyAPOVLr0ppVcgfBj3IIqoFDQQZqvigvDqPLuQk5XsS4FfxvLtioNJg9Q5LJh8hMqbk4Nya4kV-JHHNfww6E8x9-Ph3QWBtkhSoe9QZB20udVWM6BzLS4MlXfjVgjW7IzDGCMwwR-u-afaNZpOdO0GMAITr3Ii9m5XM5NgaH3_2HSYM8ZN0QQatAWdWRHCtw3iX6guGtxk_dSKSuOUGaeCaMTu5MMEEyqAySMx1HVbVfVk_yK4plDy_mlX4CBhLACUfbFDF1lVP8znjPvww5-wtHIUrxaiE203LGzn9p-Mmv4gjJ9xT3h9xRbUFyDyODX30kl95Vch-R4swj66o9AU/s1600/memorial03.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="427" data-original-width="606" height="281" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Sy8rOL-L4Vg/XooP9_WTRTI/AAAAAAAAFYM/zljhm1vMeooneOtuu74iHTyaz0wN83czACEwYBhgLKs0DAMBZVoBqJq_Bd8Cr_IUK4aOqJMxK9mCfiadZpmq-nbopGxng9vyn8opVvG9kcfeNjmqpL1RIqzU1vbrdU8fSsZI03YcH_grM-6E0KoJ8SJ4pOyBtAUkaBD5_Dpj_5B20DB_sY10LtM-iaxBWUrxjUUGgJMmZLOIw_471x9KPyJHwhMLMvPQZJwzKD3gLGSe7yhZTLXXGPo7LZ1eOZ_-67DB_RAY9JQFeGomRk6p5hxgrHRCifVOoeQleArIrkapOpBpD5nMHqbjMuh5-0wg6L59Q9gyAPOVLr0ppVcgfBj3IIqoFDQQZqvigvDqPLuQk5XsS4FfxvLtioNJg9Q5LJh8hMqbk4Nya4kV-JHHNfww6E8x9-Ph3QWBtkhSoe9QZB20udVWM6BzLS4MlXfjVgjW7IzDGCMwwR-u-afaNZpOdO0GMAITr3Ii9m5XM5NgaH3_2HSYM8ZN0QQatAWdWRHCtw3iX6guGtxk_dSKSuOUGaeCaMTu5MMEEyqAySMx1HVbVfVk_yK4plDy_mlX4CBhLACUfbFDF1lVP8znjPvww5-wtHIUrxaiE203LGzn9p-Mmv4gjJ9xT3h9xRbUFyDyODX30kl95Vch-R4swj66o9AU/s400/memorial03.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
Fujiwara, on the other hand, shimmies out of the dressing room in a very appealing robe. It is strange that here and now he feels like a complete superstar; a moment in time from being a good hand midcarder in New Japan and being maybe slightly old hat by the time Pancrase rocks up. Connor wrote something here though that I can't add much to in terms of assessment:<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-j2px3NShK-c/XooUV7CjcNI/AAAAAAAAFZI/2iRL6ylviAoAVysPeswcKwhgdHLNUi03QCEwYBhgLKs0DAMBZVoBJnc6QheRISETf7RYoYhjZvDovnFxbolsTN27i8kuU012QxUW7PBlAj4NgwC2DSVmMiQUHFzzKZbbxOv9KEbbFeBK0AlzJ9osMYy4lPAIX0SHB6r-_Pembq9R3uZI_7FKlZgB722ZxA_koGpVFckFVmL24VrXhOZuP6sHmh88WZefARUAGgYOwZ0WFBMVR_wXay-HrE1AxlwRBQ_Cy9zyhQ7OUOIu-_LYIPBbEgWzUtExhvxdioILRf09CfSQ438lt-dM1nJ7rykCdOX07ti6hvQhRYWmOfrylV8Sm1Uo1sp9xLmV6zVY79qenkjZ946_ntOD5kFceVNmsv7Zf2HxaXcHmw_i9CF5k3Ebgy3dDBdyUx7Tr9pQeLNFO33a7R0XqKV4_n1zKZ8Kb0sP9JlIP0OIYeilGQnH-CuZ3fkuBo1-G6RMhGDle-PhPt4KhLHAwluyJ_v4W5niwsMfNIEY_w6baiy6sJ70lgRldCqkVA14NP4EfUNAa-tooQVei5BgqUnQSdLB94vhINa24klll_IQsO7mHbfmcaT8bwf34QumbjwOB4gR6NLxuFWf2UVx9SvtSNbDIkstX4euzEJ1pBHA5Qh_B2qwwm66o9AU/s1600/memorial18.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="421" data-original-width="603" height="278" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-j2px3NShK-c/XooUV7CjcNI/AAAAAAAAFZI/2iRL6ylviAoAVysPeswcKwhgdHLNUi03QCEwYBhgLKs0DAMBZVoBJnc6QheRISETf7RYoYhjZvDovnFxbolsTN27i8kuU012QxUW7PBlAj4NgwC2DSVmMiQUHFzzKZbbxOv9KEbbFeBK0AlzJ9osMYy4lPAIX0SHB6r-_Pembq9R3uZI_7FKlZgB722ZxA_koGpVFckFVmL24VrXhOZuP6sHmh88WZefARUAGgYOwZ0WFBMVR_wXay-HrE1AxlwRBQ_Cy9zyhQ7OUOIu-_LYIPBbEgWzUtExhvxdioILRf09CfSQ438lt-dM1nJ7rykCdOX07ti6hvQhRYWmOfrylV8Sm1Uo1sp9xLmV6zVY79qenkjZ946_ntOD5kFceVNmsv7Zf2HxaXcHmw_i9CF5k3Ebgy3dDBdyUx7Tr9pQeLNFO33a7R0XqKV4_n1zKZ8Kb0sP9JlIP0OIYeilGQnH-CuZ3fkuBo1-G6RMhGDle-PhPt4KhLHAwluyJ_v4W5niwsMfNIEY_w6baiy6sJ70lgRldCqkVA14NP4EfUNAa-tooQVei5BgqUnQSdLB94vhINa24klll_IQsO7mHbfmcaT8bwf34QumbjwOB4gR6NLxuFWf2UVx9SvtSNbDIkstX4euzEJ1pBHA5Qh_B2qwwm66o9AU/s400/memorial18.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">MURDERDAD IX: MURDER IN THE PARK</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<i>Every Fujiwara match feels like a masterclass in how to do This. He makes a fool of the Hamaker here, making no ha's at all, who at first seems like a predator, aching to get at what he perceives as old, easy prey before being subsumed entirely. Fujiwara's displays of emotion, they engross me so. An example is his run-ins with Dick Vrij and another guy who I presume plays Big Pussy in the Dutch version of the Sopranos. When he's literally pausing the match to go between the ropes and laugh at them like "keheheh" (akin to a spiteful demon) while they get all mad, that's what it's all about. That's why we're here. </i><br />
<br />
This bit is great. Fujiwara sticks his face in Vrij's and goads him just after Hamaker eye-rakes him in the ropes. Also, generally speaking, this is astute stuff. With Takada, Funaki, and Maeda you get this sense of transferable skills, good at the regular pro-wrestling and even big stars. Fujiwara though, in shoot-style, is the one truly in his element. In the spotlight he becomes Fred Astaire and whichever Euro martial arts meatbucket for hire is Ginger Rogers for the evening. <br />
<br />
<i>The Hamaker is good but as with other Fujiwara matches whatever skills and qualities that are unique to him are immaterial because Fujiwara will exist regardless of them and I'm going to just have a damn ball watching him exist. </i><br />
<br />
Have to agree. Hamaker is a totally solid worker and I'd love to have seen him back. But this is the Fujiwara show. He moves like a transluscent sea creature, sliding between cracks and crevices<i>, </i>the cogs of his brain visible in his eyes as he gets a massive roar from prodding his opponent lightly in the head and smiling. I feel like his matches are more like watching a lion tamer than a wrestler. All wizened experience and teetering on the edge of death with a grin.<br />
<br />
This was a cool match if you like observing the subtlety of charisma in action. As a match it was the mid-point of the show: the best of the tense grapplers, but not as exciting as the brutish action in the low card. I can't tell you how much better this all was for the lack of Shigeo Miyato.<br />
<br />
<i>Then he shakes hands with the Hamaker and co. after beating him
because we're all friends here. Afterwards he starts crying while
slapping a young boy upside the head in a vaguely proud manner. What a
joy it is to live and to see this.</i><br />
<br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-TYFyVDQ4pi0/XooUWf4SnrI/AAAAAAAAFZQ/oBTTL68dyhwA-Ny9aZC-dLvpO0Uti8cVgCEwYBhgLKs0DAMBZVoCoNP_Dhf5dZaSa2nbxzk5Snvi9jwn6vg73UuXId_3DUFxVjEvdif2O13w1D9YHEpDHrLTYYUPSonAdPfxayvPmf8Omzd-HWhfrnJmbnRVc_c48a4HhVQLm4OFRwQGuW8VK7D3GB29cP1bn5ZPDT_ZwRM0TIO9OR98Q_R27q7ST2IX_X5lm_VdHhK7G5DRUV7mmxdk5oo8LYEJb3o_LULqBxVcVYxSmE4tGqBXJzKGuNv807WON-_X7ef8-8zdfUFw0jnYNEdO09z0VCOHSuoWIcULtdyPLs0TqzCKF0etIB0OS0C12vIjB-a60U28PXoU0HB3_1dQoTPTgBgTRwm17NAvbGzcEq187lbq-vzyR6VzlrYvbbkKpNdA_eEJiCUjvWzg4LKTiI_5zxCsAMG9l2UGoihLgly5RMH-B2q4eisovAXLolwLkIqETIBOud2jBm9zihTFm8Tt1pnQQ9jXBY2NhSLquxsqL4e0IH0RcSHtH32pJndVxjuv1TE-RpB7wmzkcB3sgUwbmd80ZI4d3_PVpsy7hrpN45c9ZnnUZ3UEUMfEf-fkgmPjw89nPum8qMNeqAIyEIfgYe4nfIMNxpcArSifG2JAwtq6o9AU/s1600/memorial20.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="426" data-original-width="609" height="278" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-TYFyVDQ4pi0/XooUWf4SnrI/AAAAAAAAFZQ/oBTTL68dyhwA-Ny9aZC-dLvpO0Uti8cVgCEwYBhgLKs0DAMBZVoCoNP_Dhf5dZaSa2nbxzk5Snvi9jwn6vg73UuXId_3DUFxVjEvdif2O13w1D9YHEpDHrLTYYUPSonAdPfxayvPmf8Omzd-HWhfrnJmbnRVc_c48a4HhVQLm4OFRwQGuW8VK7D3GB29cP1bn5ZPDT_ZwRM0TIO9OR98Q_R27q7ST2IX_X5lm_VdHhK7G5DRUV7mmxdk5oo8LYEJb3o_LULqBxVcVYxSmE4tGqBXJzKGuNv807WON-_X7ef8-8zdfUFw0jnYNEdO09z0VCOHSuoWIcULtdyPLs0TqzCKF0etIB0OS0C12vIjB-a60U28PXoU0HB3_1dQoTPTgBgTRwm17NAvbGzcEq187lbq-vzyR6VzlrYvbbkKpNdA_eEJiCUjvWzg4LKTiI_5zxCsAMG9l2UGoihLgly5RMH-B2q4eisovAXLolwLkIqETIBOud2jBm9zihTFm8Tt1pnQQ9jXBY2NhSLquxsqL4e0IH0RcSHtH32pJndVxjuv1TE-RpB7wmzkcB3sgUwbmd80ZI4d3_PVpsy7hrpN45c9ZnnUZ3UEUMfEf-fkgmPjw89nPum8qMNeqAIyEIfgYe4nfIMNxpcArSifG2JAwtq6o9AU/s400/memorial20.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
Concur. Fujiwara wins with a cross kneelock and celebrates like he's won the PDC World Darts Championship and the Budokan rains FU-JI-WARA down on him. Even Vrij gives him a little pat on the back.<br />
<i> </i><br />
<br />
<b>NEXT</b>: another show from 1990!<br />
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D. Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14629124673589292567noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6812605115270563531.post-55553001931901997702019-11-10T14:07:00.002-08:002019-11-10T14:07:19.863-08:00UWF 09/02/1990 - WITH '90 2ND (21/31)<b>UWF With '90 2nd</b><br />
Prefectural Gymnasium, Osaka<br />
9th February 1990<br />
att. 7000<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
I woke this morning to find that in the comments beneath one of my very old posts was actual useful information rather than a link to a penis enlargement pills site. I quote the most pertinent part of Varun's reply, as it helps solve an age-old query that this blog set into the world.</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Yes, his real name is McDuff/MacDuff Roesch. 'McDuff'/'MacDuff' is his
middle name. His full legal name is Kenneth McDuff Roesch. He operates a
construction firm in Florida, and he is the father of Mack Roesch, an
obstacle runner and a former contestant on <i>American Ninja Warrior.</i></blockquote>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Further research shows a tenuous link to wrestling, as Roesch Jr. has appeared on 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin's <i>Broken Skull Challenge</i>. But isn't this great! It energises one enough to perhaps write a further entry into the annals of shoot-style greatness....<br />
<br /></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VUXEzIhsPMc/XciCbTr7KSI/AAAAAAAAEi8/RZL_9b7crUoMdZW1fc2EoQKGLHVW8OkrwCEwYBhgL/s1600/osaka01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="427" data-original-width="603" height="283" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VUXEzIhsPMc/XciCbTr7KSI/AAAAAAAAEi8/RZL_9b7crUoMdZW1fc2EoQKGLHVW8OkrwCEwYBhgL/s400/osaka01.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">a local consulting the annals of shoot-style greatness</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<a name='more'></a>Last time around, on With '90 1st, we saw Akira Maeda dethroned again as the top gun in UWF by hulking manshape Nobuhiko Takada. It was also, arguably, the best show of the entire UWF run. And now they're running Osaka on my 7th birthday. What a wellspring of positivity we commence on!</div>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rLe4cZz4Zik/XciCbFdCxfI/AAAAAAAAEjc/NEAzwl5WMdYrMRVFOXeukCIJEj1X3JHDgCEwYBhgL/s1600/osaka02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="429" data-original-width="600" height="285" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rLe4cZz4Zik/XciCbFdCxfI/AAAAAAAAEjc/NEAzwl5WMdYrMRVFOXeukCIJEj1X3JHDgCEwYBhgL/s400/osaka02.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
A wonderful training montage commences the show, intercut with shots of people buying merch. Yoshiaki Fujiwara, there, shadow-boxing in front of the big UWF sign. Akira Maeda is pumping iron as Takada spots him from a distance.<br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-e3gHu4ToMOI/XciCbAYtm_I/AAAAAAAAEjs/PlCC92Ap-8U3CfDLGSJKS1ekTQ0r1TmSwCEwYBhgL/s1600/osaka03.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="431" data-original-width="606" height="283" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-e3gHu4ToMOI/XciCbAYtm_I/AAAAAAAAEjs/PlCC92Ap-8U3CfDLGSJKS1ekTQ0r1TmSwCEwYBhgL/s400/osaka03.jpg" width="400" /> </a></div>
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The customary parade takes place, with the entranceway incredibly slim
(probably on purpose) to give that excellent visual of wrestlers having
to cut their way to the ring through a sea of adoring arms. That said, a
camera catches Kazuo Yamazaki looking ghostly. </div>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2Up2ZSXWSAQ/XciCb57fCjI/AAAAAAAAEjo/0cjmm128IUAPIogBpT2hgyCNMCGi1oR4ACEwYBhgL/s1600/osaka04.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="426" data-original-width="597" height="285" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2Up2ZSXWSAQ/XciCb57fCjI/AAAAAAAAEjo/0cjmm128IUAPIogBpT2hgyCNMCGi1oR4ACEwYBhgL/s400/osaka04.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Takada cuts the top of the show promo and we're away at the races! What brand is that, Nobu?<br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8hYT77OLvwk/XciCb1nEEVI/AAAAAAAAEjg/smCyJQIwi-wQuJ51aelwy8xpe0kKBkLLACEwYBhgL/s1600/osaka05.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="431" data-original-width="606" height="283" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8hYT77OLvwk/XciCb1nEEVI/AAAAAAAAEjg/smCyJQIwi-wQuJ51aelwy8xpe0kKBkLLACEwYBhgL/s400/osaka05.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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The first trio of matches I wrote quickly the other day at my girlfriend's house and now I look at them with a view to expanding them, I see they have a kind of poetry. So here they are, unedited.<br />
<i><br /><b>Tatsuo Nakano</b> versus <b>Johnny Barrett</b>. Barrett starts with slaps, grabs Nakano and scoop slams. Nakano counters, unclear groundwork, headscissors by Nakano, back to feet. Nakano staring huge Barrett down. More groundwork. Sankaku-jime. Slaps by JB. Grovit by TN! JB hurks him over and into kesa-gatame. Kicks! Wooooaaahha! Groundwork. Weight on top of Nakano, Roy Nelson style. Knee to stomach, standing Fujiwara. ENZIGURI BY BIG JB!!! BELLY TO BELLY! Struggle for a while.</i><br />
<i></i><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-cSzROn757kQ/XciCcM-UCgI/AAAAAAAAEjs/u_vcb67xa8krWXotvsaHD6J-CCYLFJqkwCEwYBhgL/s1600/osaka06.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="428" data-original-width="603" height="283" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-cSzROn757kQ/XciCcM-UCgI/AAAAAAAAEjs/u_vcb67xa8krWXotvsaHD6J-CCYLFJqkwCEwYBhgL/s400/osaka06.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">assistance required</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<i><br />Tired kicks by JB. Grovit by JB. Nakano fights out, waist clinch, crowd oooooooh! UNBELIEVABLE GERMAN! UHHHWAHHHH Cross armbar! Rope break! Murder kicks! Knockdown! 9 count. JB on back foot. Bad (soft) looking headbutt. Catch kick by JB, dragon screw! Leg lock! 2nd rope break for JB. Lumbering knees, soft kicks. Clinch, kicks, charging lariat! TN is down! Dukes up at 8, JB charges, TN fires back. Ref stops closed fist usage. TN on fire! Snap suplex, reverse choke, TN wins @ 10.20!</i><br />
<br />
<br />
(a good win for Nakano, continuing his hot streak. The match was good after a tentative start).<br />
<br />
<i><b>Minoru Suzuki</b> versus <b>Shigeo Miyato</b>. Circling, MS feigns injury early. Restart, crowd cheer. MS evades swinging arm and tackles SM. Shaken loose and stomps to head. SM takes upper body control. MS shoves into corner. Heel stuff by MS. MS catches high kick and twists SM to ground and works for kimura. SM shakes loose and retains arm. MS slaps. DOUBLE SLAPPP DOUBLE KNOCKDOWN!</i><br />
<i></i><br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9UZqYaE8m4A/XciCcVZgT6I/AAAAAAAAEjo/Ttz1YqJmGdQazoePArp74NxiIPYClu9mACEwYBhgL/s1600/osaka07.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="429" data-original-width="600" height="285" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9UZqYaE8m4A/XciCcVZgT6I/AAAAAAAAEjo/Ttz1YqJmGdQazoePArp74NxiIPYClu9mACEwYBhgL/s400/osaka07.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-j8CHeZu6DMU/XciCcrKrQdI/AAAAAAAAEjk/NCvDBi96ankbn5ca4Lel5K3os8jBvKLogCEwYBhgL/s1600/osaka08.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="422" data-original-width="600" height="281" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-j8CHeZu6DMU/XciCcrKrQdI/AAAAAAAAEjk/NCvDBi96ankbn5ca4Lel5K3os8jBvKLogCEwYBhgL/s400/osaka08.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-q3FTSGsWT0M/XciCcg1L8HI/AAAAAAAAEjo/Jc6sqRBTXHYCCKk6mfAyuDXpmSj-ILR4ACEwYBhgL/s1600/osaka09.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="422" data-original-width="605" height="278" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-q3FTSGsWT0M/XciCcg1L8HI/AAAAAAAAEjo/Jc6sqRBTXHYCCKk6mfAyuDXpmSj-ILR4ACEwYBhgL/s400/osaka09.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<i>Greco-Roman upper body wrestling. Goes to ground, MS working the top.
Fireman's carry by MS! 1 rope break for SM. MS catches kick and scoops
SM up and hurls him down. Looks for ankle lock, SM rope break 2. Back to
ground, SM works top to choke, lifts up and falls back to cinch in. MS
shakes loose and there's some back and forth on the ground. SM makes the
rope, break 3 becomes second down. Miyato with amateur style suplex but
ends up on the bottom as MS pretzels him and then works to single crab.
Rope break again! </i><br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UJXtDAq8aWk/XciCc3QUj5I/AAAAAAAAEjs/TqVltV0inYUSRMU9aBX6vGI91-pO6xc8ACEwYBhgL/s1600/osaka10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="429" data-original-width="603" height="227" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UJXtDAq8aWk/XciCc3QUj5I/AAAAAAAAEjs/TqVltV0inYUSRMU9aBX6vGI91-pO6xc8ACEwYBhgL/s320/osaka10.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<i><br />Strike exchange, SM pure of heart and single of mind. MS scoops SM
again, throws down, huge corner dropkick for 3rd down. IPPON SEOINAGE by
MS! 4-1! SM getting murdered here. Rolling sole butt for MS down 2.
Scoop, shoot powerslam, cinch, sleeper, SM works in something on the
leg, weird finish! SM wins by tap @ 9.58.</i><br />
<br />
(the replay shows
it: while working in a sleeper, Suzuki left his leg exposed and Miyato
trapped it with his own causing an immediate tap. Very subtle, maybe too
much so!)<br />
<br />
<i><b>Yoji Anjo</b> versus <b>Wellington Wilkins Jr</b>.
Wild hair from WW. Widow's peak at the front, reasonably thick at the
back. Tentative kicks and grapples. Polite applause. Knee to the gut
from YA. Panicked blocking from WW. Takes a knee. 1-0. </i><br />
<i><br /></i></div>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9LYaG5LWC2w/XciFjjxiYqI/AAAAAAAAEkE/jWeQuoi67hwFydjgy_Hsc4pwwBG8Uy1LgCEwYBhgL/s1600/osaka12.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="428" data-original-width="602" height="227" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9LYaG5LWC2w/XciFjjxiYqI/AAAAAAAAEkE/jWeQuoi67hwFydjgy_Hsc4pwwBG8Uy1LgCEwYBhgL/s320/osaka12.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<i><br />WW
out with catch stance. Big slap from YA. WW stares him down. WW backs
him up. Unloads, powdery. WW goes into butterfly, suplex, attempts
single crab. Rope break. YA sells a bit. YA YA lunges, side grab, side
suplex, kimura attempt, rolls out and WW takes top. Kesa nearly locked
in and YA struggles mightily, rolling all the way out into a Fujiwara
attempt from the wrong side. WW butt touches the rope for a break. </i></div>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ZPWXcrxd5g0/XciFjmVqmNI/AAAAAAAAEkA/0YBxE9EpQnI2cnhS0lPswiaTkJIFkD8kACEwYBhgL/s1600/osaka13.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="429" data-original-width="603" height="283" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ZPWXcrxd5g0/XciFjmVqmNI/AAAAAAAAEkA/0YBxE9EpQnI2cnhS0lPswiaTkJIFkD8kACEwYBhgL/s400/osaka13.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<i><br /></i><i>High kick blocked but YA storms in. Suplex with bridge from WW. WW has top of body while YA works lower with legs. Breaks, YA runs around looking for an opening on prone WW. WW kicks his way loose. YA big kick and WW takes second down on knee. YA peppers WW with strikes. WW thinks he has kick caught but YA continues assault for 3-0. 9 count gets a cheer. YA kick, backs into corner, unloads for 4-0. STAY DOWN WW. Uses rope to haul self up. Desperation comeback, suplex, but YA continues unperturbed using WW's aggression to roll into a leglock @ 6.49.</i><br />
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
(entertaining semi-squash here. Wilkins is a game jobber, would much rather see this than have him do a 30 minute draw)</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
And now, for the fifth time (I think) we have <b>Nobuhiko Takada</b> and <b>Kazuo Yamazaki</b> squaring off. Every match they've had has been entertaining, but it does feel like a lot. But Masakatsu Funaki is injured and someone has to keep Takada looking shiny at the top for a while until Maeda gets bored.</div>
<br />
Promos. Yamazaki circumspect and lightly smiling. New direction. Grey UWF jacket is gorgeous. At the end, he even breaks out a rare big smile! Look at it! <br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rcqX-U0hcUU/XciE4K6UzFI/AAAAAAAAEj0/FtWtGz84eGgYeLnRJjYOJgsX7pTpx9u8ACLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/osaka11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="430" data-original-width="604" height="283" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rcqX-U0hcUU/XciE4K6UzFI/AAAAAAAAEj0/FtWtGz84eGgYeLnRJjYOJgsX7pTpx9u8ACLcBGAsYHQ/s400/osaka11.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Yes, my jacket is perfect."</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
After an early handshake and tentative striking, Yamazaki attacks with jumping knee. Takada backs up and breaks. A low kick to Takada's thigh seems to score an early down, with Takada seen to by ref. Takada stomps around ring wincing. This wasn't a down, just a character note.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Takada restarts with a rippling middle kick and a gutwrench after grappling. Yamazaki stands up and throws a thrust slap that misses. Takada powers up, picking up and slamming Yamazaki and booting him on ground. </div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HJok46nP6_g/XciIGkGNJoI/AAAAAAAAEkQ/MypgVh-kzO0PmmXdsdJ8yorO3DwjlWqzQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/osaka15.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="428" data-original-width="609" height="280" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HJok46nP6_g/XciIGkGNJoI/AAAAAAAAEkQ/MypgVh-kzO0PmmXdsdJ8yorO3DwjlWqzQCLcBGAsYHQ/s400/osaka15.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">this match: in one .jpg</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />A nice Yamazaki character note now, as he backs up as if reassessing strategy. A middle kick to the gut, then stalking Takada down, and then another middle kick connects. Takada backs up and raises his left leg as guard. Yamazaki falls into trap as Takada ends up standing and looking for leg lock. Flashy forward roll by Takada fails and breaks the move. <br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3gM_ZFG_d7M/XciIG-QremI/AAAAAAAAEkY/1Op16j2dP2oLiYNR79KRPfdLYO_ZePCYgCEwYBhgL/s1600/osaka14.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="426" data-original-width="607" height="280" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3gM_ZFG_d7M/XciIG-QremI/AAAAAAAAEkY/1Op16j2dP2oLiYNR79KRPfdLYO_ZePCYgCEwYBhgL/s400/osaka14.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">soul leaves body</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br />Both are now missing kicks. Standing grapples. After some failed attempts at grappling, Yamazaki unloads for once and sends Takada for his first official down. 1-0. Yamazaki misses a wheel kick and Takada punishes in a rear naked choke that Yamazaki scuttles to the ropes for. Yamazaki unloads again with left and right kicks but Takada scores the down with a massive head kick! Great sell. KY up on 9. 1-1! Takada's now on fire, working his 250lb frame into a rolling sole butt and a head kick that sends Yamazaki down for 2-1. Up at 9. </div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
Things are gearing up great now. Yamazaki comes firing straight back, downing Takada with a massive underhand slap that breaks through the defences. 2-2! Takada kicks Yamazaki and takes over in a crunching side suplex. This odd choice is worked through for a submission attempt but neither man has much...until Takada suddenly has Yamazaki mid-ring in a leglock! Panic stations from the challenger. Rope break, 3-2! <br /><br /></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-A4-wmB75fiI/XciIGhRZLtI/AAAAAAAAEkw/TaMAvf6VaJYvQxfNr4KEU1EC_7eQi-zIgCEwYBhgL/s1600/osaka16.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="426" data-original-width="605" height="281" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-A4-wmB75fiI/XciIGhRZLtI/AAAAAAAAEkw/TaMAvf6VaJYvQxfNr4KEU1EC_7eQi-zIgCEwYBhgL/s400/osaka16.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">THE END</td></tr>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br />Another rapid restart with a brutal low kick by Yamazaki, but this time Takada stays vertical. Yamazaki attempts to repeat the trick and misses. He simply goes again, this time rapping Takada's legs on the ground. Takada rope breaks and it's 3-3 though I haven't seen Takada rope-break once? Odd.</div>
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Immediate action from Yamazaki, throwing a GRUESOME middle kick for an immediate down! 4-3! At the restart, Takada catches a kick, headbutts, and kicks Yamazaki down for 4-4! This is all action and little else! Takada unloads and turns Yamazaki over for single, and then a full, crab for aaaaaaaaaaages and wins @ 12.42! A good match that was very Takada-esque in its rapidfire falls and reversals of fortune. Handshakes and respect all around from both, though Yamazaki looks dejected. The fans are rapt for Takada. </div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-iDk4Pw5KtHE/XciIHYb0LSI/AAAAAAAAEkw/lp4i78BiIYs9FKrALDb8Hij3RA3mo7y-ACEwYBhgL/s1600/osaka17.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="432" data-original-width="612" height="281" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-iDk4Pw5KtHE/XciIHYb0LSI/AAAAAAAAEkw/lp4i78BiIYs9FKrALDb8Hij3RA3mo7y-ACEwYBhgL/s400/osaka17.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<br />Though he has been dethroned, <b>Akira Maeda</b> is still the headliner of this show. His match here, against <b>Yoshiaki Fujiwara</b>, is pretty mouthwatering, so why the hell not?<br /></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RrS-isdgds4/XciIHmZL7sI/AAAAAAAAEks/k3Z8EXH9bFc8Jg8XqndkiXPQ0ZoxDjVWACEwYBhgL/s1600/osaka18.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="432" data-original-width="609" height="282" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RrS-isdgds4/XciIHmZL7sI/AAAAAAAAEks/k3Z8EXH9bFc8Jg8XqndkiXPQ0ZoxDjVWACEwYBhgL/s400/osaka18.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">MURDERDAD IX: TAKING NAMES (OF PEOPLE HE WILL MURDER)</td></tr>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br />A pre-match promo by Murderdad Fujiwara is brief, perhaps even monosyllabic (sometimes I feel Japanese speakers have an elastic tongue that makes multiple syllables flow like ripples of water in a way my clumsy Saxon tongue never could manage). Maeda has a towel around the neck and is more chatty, although grave of tone. He says 'banzuke' at some point, maybe refencing the rankings? You know, the one he just fell from the #1 spot in for the first time in over a year?</div>
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<br />Fujiwara does some tidying in the ring and then circles from the bell. Maeda, perhaps wanting the night off, tries for a big belting kick. Fujiwara is evidently feeling sprightly today and evades it nonchalantly. Maeda pushes toward the corner and, sensing Fujiwara wants this, hurls him back over for a submission mid-ring. The early kimura attempt is eventually rolled from and suddenly Fujiwara is atop Maeda looking for the same double wristlock named for the judoka turned Rikidozan hater. <br /><br />The lengthy and flinty groundwork section appears to end, but Maeda drags Fujiwara back centre-ring to look for a the single crab of doom that he has ended several matches with. Fujiwara's calm under pressure begins to crack and with it the fans become tense, chanting FU-JI-WAR-A to help free their man. Maeda sits atop and Fujiwara is content for a while to go nowhere. Eventually it breaks and Murderdad is unharmed.</div>
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Kicks from Maeda are met with smiles and then Fujiwara goes on the attack, slapping and then tripping Maeda and looking for a leglock with his trapped limb. When this fails, Fujiwara just hilariously falls head first onto Maeda's prone body and scores a down with, essentially, a diving headbutt. Remember - Fujiwara's head is legendarily hard so this constitutes legitimate technique.</div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-p7j-OiDOWx4/XciIHlbFe4I/AAAAAAAAEk4/R0Oxctr0eMgyVg1wPnoBMKwOPo3cvCXXACEwYBhgL/s1600/osaka19.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="434" data-original-width="606" height="286" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-p7j-OiDOWx4/XciIHlbFe4I/AAAAAAAAEk4/R0Oxctr0eMgyVg1wPnoBMKwOPo3cvCXXACEwYBhgL/s400/osaka19.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
On standing Fujiwara wilds out more in the corner, backing Maeda up with all kinds of strikes. The ref quite rightly orders them out, giving Maeda a chance to come forward with kicks that drop Fujiwara to a knee but never quite down. They grapple manfully and then Fujiwara leans in with a hard headbutt that bounces Maeda off the ropes in an alarmed fashion. Maeda angrily comes back with kicks, but Fujiwara does the old catch and twist into an attempted crab that Maeda scurries from. </div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
Tensions rise in the house and the kicks seem to get harder. Fujiwara remains unfazed and the catch and twist is performed, much more slowly and effectively as Maeda is crabbed. He makes the ropes. A Capture Suplex attempt by Maeda only succeeds in gaining top control. A long groundwork section follows, with Maeda grimly looking for armbar. Fujiwara, again, is quietly unfazed, though grimacing in moments. He counters Maeda's momentum and partially succeeds in getting a leglock while Maeda gets one back on him. It looks a little confused, like those Figure 4/reverse Figure 4 spots in 90s wrestling.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Maeda kicks seem to fold both men groundward and into a sleeper attempt by Maeda. Fujiwara is now less than absolutely certain on the ground as Maeda wrenches control. As is his wont, Fujiwara finds routes out and this time finds counterplay with a subtle ankle lock that sees Maeda rope break. A single leg takedown attempt from Fujiwara leads him to pinning Maeda's ankle to the canvas with knee to secure control. Maeda's power wrests control and the two see-saw on the mat a while. Maeda bonches in an unpleasant kick and scores a down while Fujiwara is already on the mat. 1-1!<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5yc8FPKqe74/XciIH5_me3I/AAAAAAAAEk0/oPsuvlK40mIqpAg_sD-I3kszeLhETBjKACEwYBhgL/s1600/osaka20.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="432" data-original-width="604" height="285" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5yc8FPKqe74/XciIH5_me3I/AAAAAAAAEk0/oPsuvlK40mIqpAg_sD-I3kszeLhETBjKACEwYBhgL/s400/osaka20.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"I won, but at what cost? (none, I won)"</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br />On standing, Fujiwara catches a kick and crumples to the ground to attempts a leglock but Maeda wraps in a sleeper. Fujiwara, I now notice, is bleeding at the mouth. The bell rings. Maeda has his arm raised, though Fujiwara gave no visual signal of distress. Another kooky "oh I didn't lose really" Fujiwara ending at 14.17. A shame, because they were working well and toward something.<br /><br />Faux Mike Oldfield music plays as Maeda looks battered and slathered in ice in the locker room.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Interviews from the pre-match with Yama, Taka, Maeda, and Fujiwara play. No idea what they're saying.</div>
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THE END. A solid show!</div>
D. Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14629124673589292567noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6812605115270563531.post-7464969178137166332019-04-19T07:17:00.000-07:002019-04-19T07:38:25.035-07:00UWF 16/01/1990 - WITH '90 1ST (20/31)<b>UWF With '90 1st</b><br />
Nippon Budokan, Tokyo<br />
16th January, 1990<br />
att. 14130<br />
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Wintertime in Japan brings spectral sights to UWF: a fighting fortress on a hill blanketed in powdery snow as ducks bob for food, soundtracked by an airy <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7aYjRl_6Zw" target="_blank">Hiroshi Yoshimura-esque</a> motif.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-RaMK_OdRfVw/XLnLE74jxmI/AAAAAAAAEb8/kn7Scj3-o4c2KNYpHcN89gGuRlXnUEblQCLcBGAs/s1600/budokan02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="423" data-original-width="590" height="286" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-RaMK_OdRfVw/XLnLE74jxmI/AAAAAAAAEb8/kn7Scj3-o4c2KNYpHcN89gGuRlXnUEblQCLcBGAs/s400/budokan02.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">New year Budokan</td></tr>
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<br />
It is beautiful and a potent reminder of how shoot-style caught the wave of a particular aesthetic moment as much as it existed in the brief space between the old (pro-wrestling) and the new (mixed style fighting). These moments of stillness and gravity are things that contemporary wrestling seems to miss in its rushed presentation, if I can have this one opportunity to grouse.<br />
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Fireworks accentuate the now-traditional parade. Tickertape streams from the roof. A bearded western man I have never seen before rushes out purposefully.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-nxIblU-Zmes/XLnLEpsIJyI/AAAAAAAAEb4/_JY8vSUEgwMDZRqzYFJHd6GjuR3Cp3ifACLcBGAs/s1600/budokan03.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="419" data-original-width="590" height="283" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-nxIblU-Zmes/XLnLEpsIJyI/AAAAAAAAEb4/_JY8vSUEgwMDZRqzYFJHd6GjuR3Cp3ifACLcBGAs/s400/budokan03.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">SHOOT-STYLE ORB</td></tr>
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<br />
The UWF theme parps with an extra air of the triumphant. This is UWF in the 90s; emboldened by the incredible record-shattering Dome show the month before and set on domination. And yet the company is within its final year of existence. <br />
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The full roster runs out here. In just over 18 months of UWF (at this point) we begin to realise that pretty much all of these guys are beloved regardless of their win/loss records or perceived placement and utility; they are men adored in the way wrestlers used to be - with distanced awe and respect, ineffable monsters of power and technique, visible only for this moment and in the traces left behind in the next day's sports reports.<br />
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Nv794C2tW5c/XLnMG5G8ITI/AAAAAAAAEcI/_zmRxczB1MMZoOBW5GVslXhhHG-9vt3VQCLcBGAs/s1600/budokan04.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="310" data-original-width="612" height="202" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Nv794C2tW5c/XLnMG5G8ITI/AAAAAAAAEcI/_zmRxczB1MMZoOBW5GVslXhhHG-9vt3VQCLcBGAs/s400/budokan04.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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After a brief oration from the man-mental Maeda, we cut to our opening match: the eternally preliminary <b>Shigeo Miyato</b> (whose silhouette on performing his signature move [Rolling Sole Butt] is quite faun-like) takes on newcomer <b>Kevin Kastelle</b>. Kastelle, be-mulleted as well as be-bearded, wears white trousers that one would normally accompany a gi, but he lacks the gi. With this he pairs kickpads and Asics Tigers for a classic Shiro Koshinaka look.<br />
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-nRoK3yRREfw/XLnOWZhZz2I/AAAAAAAAEcU/xqBAG8RoHwEcMPP_stAhRCos34PYCkCoQCLcBGAs/s1600/budokan05.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="426" data-original-width="561" height="302" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-nRoK3yRREfw/XLnOWZhZz2I/AAAAAAAAEcU/xqBAG8RoHwEcMPP_stAhRCos34PYCkCoQCLcBGAs/s400/budokan05.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Kastelle's general mien is that of Bart Vale by way of Chuck Norris (or the other way around) - a tall man of kicks, possibly kenpo but the high loop suggests Taekwondo. He lurches forward but Miyato counters effectively with judo; first throwing Kastelle and then crawling all over him on the ground. The match has several permutations of this - Kastelle occasionally gets counterplay, and at one point he hurts Miyato with an enziguri, a penetrating kick, some Muay Thai knees, and a regular suplex.<br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LDOzHNd1jr4/XLnOWScAUBI/AAAAAAAAEcY/u83TSQqea7IxTouGw-yrmXl1p1Dxpc-hgCLcBGAs/s1600/budokan06.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="420" data-original-width="541" height="310" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LDOzHNd1jr4/XLnOWScAUBI/AAAAAAAAEcY/u83TSQqea7IxTouGw-yrmXl1p1Dxpc-hgCLcBGAs/s400/budokan06.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Kastelle isn't exactly killing in there in terms of originality and excitement. But he is scoring downs, getting up to 3-0. Miyato's mental block here is seeking the purity of a clean kill by submission. Eventually the fog lifts and Miyato decides to do it Kastelle's way; barrowing him over with a kick, a weird suplex that looks bad and painful, and a cross kneelock for the win in 6.39. Miyato is much better under 10 minutes. A good start.<br />
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-FnQiTcCwWxY/XLnOWvs9kFI/AAAAAAAAEcc/QnKElncxfT4RKvcQCeE1q7d7DlOdS3SCgCLcBGAs/s1600/budokan07.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="432" data-original-width="586" height="293" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-FnQiTcCwWxY/XLnOWvs9kFI/AAAAAAAAEcc/QnKElncxfT4RKvcQCeE1q7d7DlOdS3SCgCLcBGAs/s400/budokan07.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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A post-match google of Mr. Kastelle finds this:</div>
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<b>Grand Master Kevin Kastelle<i><span data-mce-style="font-size: 12pt;" style="font-size: 12pt;"><span data-mce-style="line-height: normal; color: #000000;" style="color: black; line-height: normal;">: A Remarkable Martial Art Professional yo</span></span></i><i><span data-mce-style="font-size: 12pt;" style="font-size: 12pt;"><span data-mce-style="line-height: normal; color: #000000;" style="color: black; line-height: normal;">u can trust. </span></span></i></b></div>
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-hsbu18cJnds/XLnEgZ0aQgI/AAAAAAAAEbs/Um7RioNl3G8cYJyH_Smn6ip-DdIFoGlGwCLcBGAs/s1600/budokan01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="489" data-original-width="326" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-hsbu18cJnds/XLnEgZ0aQgI/AAAAAAAAEbs/Um7RioNl3G8cYJyH_Smn6ip-DdIFoGlGwCLcBGAs/s320/budokan01.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
All this and more can be found <a href="http://www.kastelle.com/martial_art_services" target="_blank">here</a>. I am always so glad to learn that the competitors just went back to being martial artists.</div>
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<br />
Another newcomer enters the crosshairs of notorious shooter <b>Minoru Suzuki</b>: his name is <b>Wellington Wilkins Jr</b>. A stout fireplug of a man, his hair has a widow's peak and isn't properly grown-in at the sides. In a way it resembles the way his opponent's would look in the 21st century. Wilkins' gear is that of the classic shootist of this era: black trunks, kneepads, kickpads, and trainers.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-baBuYLp9GlA/XLnPM-c1xzI/AAAAAAAAEco/YtGciDGitl4afXq5RZ31UEtJIV1F1FnAwCLcBGAs/s1600/budokan08.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="430" data-original-width="599" height="286" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-baBuYLp9GlA/XLnPM-c1xzI/AAAAAAAAEco/YtGciDGitl4afXq5RZ31UEtJIV1F1FnAwCLcBGAs/s400/budokan08.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tenryu hair respect from Suzuki</td></tr>
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<br />
The two feel each other out for tentative grapples. Suzuki quickly decides 'enough of this' and slaps Wilkins across the face and then taunts him cockily. Undaunted, our visitor returns to attempt to out-wrestle rather than be held prisoner by his new-found anger. Suzuki quickly takes him over and leaves Wilkins requiring the rope for escape.<br />
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Suzuki slaps Wilkins about a bit, causing Wilkins to look at his opponent with puzzlement, as if this was not part of the bargain. Suzuki takes Wilkins over again into kesa-gatame. Wilkins' arm pops out and Suzuki tries to catch it between his own leg. They're having a terrific struggle together on the floor - it feels like real grappling or judo up until Wilkins regains the vertical. His own slaps back to Suzuki are a little polite, as are his kicks.<br />
<br />
Lovely fireman's carry by Suzuki takes Wilkins over again. Suzuki takes a full mount, slapping Wilkins with impunity. Wilkins rolls Suzuki for an attempted juji-gatame but the crowd aren't buying him after his powdery kicks and general wet lettuce vibe. Suzuki is just hovering and waiting for the kill and an attempted leg lock wakes the crowd up as Wilkins scurries to the ropes for relief anew.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-qSgD0RDukkw/XLnQFOOTypI/AAAAAAAAEc8/Geb4l1LaQEMDe3FFy8Hw3cU9psFW_c1TgCLcBGAs/s1600/budokan10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="425" data-original-width="589" height="287" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-qSgD0RDukkw/XLnQFOOTypI/AAAAAAAAEc8/Geb4l1LaQEMDe3FFy8Hw3cU9psFW_c1TgCLcBGAs/s400/budokan10.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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In the following sequence Wilkins wins the crowd around with a double-arm suplex that he floats over into an attempted kimura. The crowd roar for Suzuki to escape, which he duly does, and the fight collapses with an awkward grapples that both men seem to slip while engaged in. Suzuki wins the crowd back with a suplex and then fully dropkicking Wilkins through the ring ropes for a down.<br />
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All of a sudden the holes seem apparent - Suzuki isn't countering Wilkins' control spots. Suzuki chases the kimura, Wilkins escapes, and the match feels weirdly aimless. Suzuki practically rolls himself into Wilkins' best-looking submission, and then Wilkins smartly chooses this moment to enact a cocky revenge - booting the stricken Suzuki against the ropes.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-t3ij835RZ1w/XLnQFtmK2mI/AAAAAAAAEdA/zYBykejoaIsptZMd3zxs0lLUGsdDjamjgCLcBGAs/s1600/budokan09.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="430" data-original-width="591" height="290" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-t3ij835RZ1w/XLnQFtmK2mI/AAAAAAAAEdA/zYBykejoaIsptZMd3zxs0lLUGsdDjamjgCLcBGAs/s400/budokan09.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">the point is made, Minoru</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Suzuki doesn't take well to this, as is the wont of a violent psychopath, and fires up a barrage of open-handed slaps and knees that send Wilkins down for a count (3-0). On returning, Suzuki takes Wilkins down, applies the half crab, and this one is over very quickly and angrily in 12.43. On an excitement graph this match would look like a big U shape.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />
Wilkins will be back in UWF and eventually follows Suzuki over to PWFG before departing for a more pro-wrestling vista in Michinoku Pro and a couple of job spots for WWF. <br />
<br />
No time-wasting between matches, just a picture of what is to come soundtracked by some sprightly synth music. On this occasion we have the enhanced <b>Tatsuo Nakano</b>, slowly becoming a hero for his pugnacious performances in the back end of 1989, against the dominant <b>Yoshiaki Fujiwara</b>. Quite a styles clash - doughy striker meets dad bod pretzeller.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_WfqQNPtF0Q/XLnQtEjTq0I/AAAAAAAAEdM/eZiBR_YEiMoucqfw5wSvaD0CrKhm4OrLgCLcBGAs/s1600/budokan12.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="423" data-original-width="588" height="287" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_WfqQNPtF0Q/XLnQtEjTq0I/AAAAAAAAEdM/eZiBR_YEiMoucqfw5wSvaD0CrKhm4OrLgCLcBGAs/s400/budokan12.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My mouth, it waters</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Intense start as Nakano chases Fujiwara in the vain hope of wrestling him, but Fujiwara harai-goshis him over in a matter-of-fact fashion and immediately starts the ritual violence. Nakano rolls out and headbutts Fujiwara to the back of his legendarily-hard head. Nakano keeps the intensity as the match goes vertical and Fujiwara is just dancing to keep distance and let this porky puncher wear out his welcome. It nearly works, with a missed punch quickly becoming a Fujiwara Armbar. Nakano slips out of the back door smartly.<br />
<br />
Interestingly, Nakano is trying to beat Fujiwara at his own game. He does some smart rolling to evade a crab and ends up remounting Fujiwara and going seriously to town on his head with about 20 (!) headbutts and follow-up kicks to Fujiwara. It feels real and violent and I have not seen anyone treat Fujiwara this way before. Fujiwara escapes, stands, smiles, adjusts his trunks, and then smashes Nakano with a headbutt for a down. The crowd nearly eject their seats and fly through the roof in happiness.<br />
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<br />
Things get messy and intense - but in a cool way - as the two try to establish control. Nakano attempts to kick Fujiwara's back and loses his footing. They tussle near the ropes and for a second Fujiwara loosens his grip, but only so he can gain distance to lash in another violent headbutt. Nakano picks up after a down (now 2-0 behind) and goes crazy with kicks on Fujiwara. This is amazing!<br />
<br />
Fujiwara stays down, knowing Nakano can't chase him into his dense jungle of limbs. Fujiwara taunts from his back, looking to catch a kick. They roll on the floor and Nakano again gets on top and throws headbutts to weaken Fujiwara's resolve. Nakano kicks Fujiwara in the back repeatedly, with Fujiwara springing a trap Nakano never falls for. <br />
<br />
Fujiwara stands and tries his usual plan A - backing up to counter momentum of his opponent. It works, and he goes 3-0 ahead with a gut shot. Nakano only knows one plan - forward - and he chases Fujiwara across the ring with strikes, backing him into the ropes foolishly to allow himself to get turned and put down for 4-0 and the precipice of defeat. Nakano is bust open but he throws up his dukes. It's never over!<br />
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<br />
Nakano grinds Fujiwara down to the ground, bleeding all over him. The match becomes sweaty and static. Nakano fights in desperation, Fujiwara weakened but essentially in charge despite being on the bottom, such is his lead. <br />
<br />
Sometimes Fujiwara's smiling and tactics can appear hammy and sometimes they help structure a match perfectly. It just depends on how seriously he takes his opponent. The match restores the upright, Nakano charges with last-gasp kicks, but Fujiwara catches one, flips Nakano over and makes him tap at 13.44. Super stuff. One of my favourite UWF bouts so far. <br />
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<br />
I'd never heard anyone say anything particular about this Nakano vs. Fujiwara match, so I had a google to see if anyone else had. Sure enough, <a href="http://segundacaida.blogspot.com/2009/08/cowards-die-many-times-before-their.html" target="_blank">Segunda Caida come through</a> with a two-man watch that I agree with:<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b>TKG</b>: Yeah this is the stuff. Nakano is great at this kind of hardhitting
fast brawl. Nakano has gotten really slick and almost elaborate in his
mat work. Whole story here is Nakano challenging and taking it to
Fujiwara and Fujiwara catching Nakano with stuff. Nakano headbutts
Fujiwara multiple times in the back and side of head. Fujiwara busts
Nakano in the jaw multiple times with headbutts. The two trade nasty
bodyshots. This was badass.<br />
<br />
<b>PAS</b>: Nakano works this match like a
guy in a boxing match down on the scorecards going into the last round.
Not a ton of defense just a bull rush, Fujiwara is really great at
countering and using his aggression against him, and there are also
moments where he clearly gets pissed off and throws receipts. For a
match built around body shots and headbutts, you got a pair of dudes who
can throw a body shot and a headbutt. </blockquote>
Two guys who are by now on approximately the same level - <b>Kazuo Yamazaki</b> takes on <b>Yoji Anjo</b> in the semi-main. Neither are destined to be king, but perhaps they will guard the king's gates. Tellingly neither want to work with Maeda again after this.<br />
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-XkdS_1Wxn_w/XLnU-8GSnmI/AAAAAAAAEeA/JiON-3xxNhUgykf6w6Yv6k3kOZSOKLYvwCLcBGAs/s1600/budokan20.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="426" data-original-width="594" height="286" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-XkdS_1Wxn_w/XLnU-8GSnmI/AAAAAAAAEeA/JiON-3xxNhUgykf6w6Yv6k3kOZSOKLYvwCLcBGAs/s400/budokan20.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
Anjo's playing the peppy upstart in purple leopardprint to Yamazaki's ascetic warrior of the clan Reebok, which seems consistent with what we have learned about these two thus far. Anjo is all energy while Yamazaki exchanges moments of pure stillness with fluid motion around the ground (we saw none of this in his Fujiwara match, where he was the broomstick). It's a different kind of energy to everything we have seen before: cool and total competency rather than domination or aggression. A rope-break apiece is the sum total of the first five minutes.<br />
<br />
After this, Anjo goes crazy, slicing through Yamazaki's guts with grim knees. Yamazaki waits it out on the ground, smartly overturning a kesa-gatame against into a position for himself by shifting his hips. Yamazaki adopts the Fujiwara technique in a less-pro wrestling sense: he is waiting for Anjo to attack but is feigning and feinting his own attacks in order to counter. Yamazaki is seriously good, people.<br />
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<br />
Anjo isn't chopped liver either: he's playing his part of the noble fool well and he gets the crowd animated. He also gamely eats everything when Yamazaki starts rifling in middle kicks, and then takes one on the back of the head for a down. 1-0 Yamazaki.<br />
<br />
Anjo strikes back immediately, catching a kick, kneeing Yamazaki to the ground in the corner and then using the ropes as leverage to drop in a huge knee that wobbles Yamazaki. It doesn't score Anjo a point as it was illegal, but it leaves a mark on Yamazaki's psyche. He drops the noble aesthete facade and sets about Anjo like a wild dog. It's Anjo's gameplan, and Yamazaki takes all of a slap to finally drop down and even the score at 1-1.<br />
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<br />
Realising he has been outwitted, Yamazaki chases Anjo and secures a neat rear naked choke. Anjo hits the rope for the third time, which converts to a down. On release, Yamazaki does the same again mid-ring, mad with attack, and this time Anjo has no choice but to tap at 11.57. Good one! <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-wVmbfn3CmuM/XLnU-_4pVvI/AAAAAAAAEd8/ktqFJVLHlRMFgOt2b_VsVAIwHQP1Dl-HwCLcBGAs/s1600/budokan19.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="429" data-original-width="579" height="296" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-wVmbfn3CmuM/XLnU-_4pVvI/AAAAAAAAEd8/ktqFJVLHlRMFgOt2b_VsVAIwHQP1Dl-HwCLcBGAs/s400/budokan19.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
A montage precedes the main event as the two big boys of UWF renew their rivalry. Company head<b> Akira Maeda</b> was unbeaten in 1989 - 12-0. His only UWF defeat has come at the hands of eternal pretender <b>Nobuhiko Takada</b> back in 1988, though Maeda did not leave it long before righting the ledger.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-J2NHHEOjG7w/XLnXRgJC70I/AAAAAAAAEeU/kbSU9Xb4E74sdS7As37vmI4AXT9HHuCoACLcBGAs/s1600/budokan23.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="418" data-original-width="576" height="290" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-J2NHHEOjG7w/XLnXRgJC70I/AAAAAAAAEeU/kbSU9Xb4E74sdS7As37vmI4AXT9HHuCoACLcBGAs/s400/budokan23.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I AM THE KING</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Maeda attacks first but Takada leans back and whups Maeda with a kick that sends Maeda down for 1-0. The crowd explode and they seem to favour Takada much stronger. Takada, historically a slow starter who powers through the final stages with booming kicks and bar-room judo, is in control in a big way here. When Maeda finally gets some play, the crowd simmer down. Interesting!<br />
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<br />
Maeda rides his former tag team partner and slaps him. The crowd do not react as strongly as even when Minoru Suzuki or Tatsuo Nakano were doing this, so I think it is safe to assume that Takada is the beloved one here. Takada makes the ropes and the two return to searching for solutions for their problems.<br />
<br />
After some light circling, Maeda returns to parity with a high kick to Takada's cheek for 1-1. On standing, Takada lands two mighty kicks above the neckline and then hurks Maeda over in a belly-to-belly. Takada isn't quite the groundwork craftsman as others, and Maeda scuttles to the ropes with relative ease.<br />
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<br />
The crowd seem to return to Maeda when he catches a Takada kick and sits on it for an attempted crab. This time Takada makes the ropes. They're exchanging middle kicks and backing away. They're feigning for grapples and shooting low and pulling out. It is poised as hell. They take advantage of this immersive tension with a long series of groundwork exchanges that neither man totally manages to gain the upper hand during. Takada's extensive use of the rope break seems him go 2-1 down.<br />
<br />
Takada picks the crowd back up as he slaps Maeda with a pistol-crack sound emerging from their contact. Maeda reacts angrily, catching a kick and then booting the hell out of Takada to send him down for 3-1. Takada's 9 count nearly eliminates him and he then walks into a Capture Suplex and crab attempt to take him to symbolic's death symbolic door. Maeda cinches and clinches but Takada grits his way out.<br />
<br />
Maeda seems irresistable here, kicking Takada across the ring with a swagger that emerges when he is about to win handily. Takada fires up and lashes in some kicks of his own, stinging right-dominant zingers with real venom.<br />
<br />
Tiring, both men circle again, Maeda having just nearly won it with a crab attempt that Takada seemed to panic in. A boomeranging kick ricochets off Maeda's temple for 3-2. This seems to momentarily blind and rattle Maeda, who clutches his head long after the 8 count he receives. The doctor comes into the ring, redolent of when Maeda opened Yamazaki up to claim a win on blood stoppage. There is no blood here and the match continues. Takada catches a kick, flips Maeda and has in the heel hold in centre ring. The crowd are in love and it peaks when Maeda taps cleanly!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">mark this day!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Takada is overjoyed and leaps on the spot in disbelief. He mounts the corner to celebrate. Maeda raises his hand, slightly sharing the spotlight, but it was a clean job. The post-match montage shows Maeda's heel encased in ice as Takada claps an ice towel to his brow.<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Uf_YUIWVOMY/XLnXTIJ9h1I/AAAAAAAAEek/3mLYKGDgFtYEGkiA_5r2AVFXG_xW4AJ-QCLcBGAs/s1600/budokan29.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="423" data-original-width="588" height="287" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Uf_YUIWVOMY/XLnXTIJ9h1I/AAAAAAAAEek/3mLYKGDgFtYEGkiA_5r2AVFXG_xW4AJ-QCLcBGAs/s400/budokan29.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-b5CgTxLgKJM/XLnXTkLskLI/AAAAAAAAEeo/SvKCM2tgIGgX6jbR98vbP6b_3OY0ZSEEQCLcBGAs/s1600/budokan30.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="429" data-original-width="539" height="317" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-b5CgTxLgKJM/XLnXTkLskLI/AAAAAAAAEeo/SvKCM2tgIGgX6jbR98vbP6b_3OY0ZSEEQCLcBGAs/s400/budokan30.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
However, the show closes not on Maeda's misfortune, but Takada's triumph:<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />
Super show, I thought. One of the best from top to bottom.<br />
<br />
<b>NEXT</b>: UWF With '90 2nd! </div>
</div>
</div>
D. Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14629124673589292567noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6812605115270563531.post-85370137435474845412019-04-01T09:29:00.001-07:002019-04-19T07:36:02.812-07:00UWF 24/07/1989 - FIGHTING SQUARE HAKATA (13/31)<b>UWF Fighting Square Hakata</b><br />
Hakata Star Lanes, Fukuoka<br />
24th July, 1989<br />
att. 4000<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Clutching a dozen or so random bootleg selections purchased from the wrestling VHS shop in the Colliseum on Church St. in Manchester (now: Light Aparthotel), I opted to watch the one that I hadn't heard anything about. It was this show that I am about to review the first hour of - I know it exists in full because on that rainy day at the turn of the century I sat through the whole thing, rapt. </div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tXBcqzgPPmU/XKIHe-9flKI/AAAAAAAAEWM/_7vyN91zZ_YiZIJuJNMtmu1LAz6yaCFcACLcBGAs/s1600/marcel-proust-madeleine.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="356" data-original-width="296" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tXBcqzgPPmU/XKIHe-9flKI/AAAAAAAAEWM/_7vyN91zZ_YiZIJuJNMtmu1LAz6yaCFcACLcBGAs/s320/marcel-proust-madeleine.jpeg" width="266" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Proust watching Ronda Rousey armbar people</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Seeing Fighting Square Hakata in approximately 2001 wouldn't change my life and seeing it now doesn't have some kind of Proustian effect, but it did offer a taste of something I've subtly hoped for in wrestling ever since: not shoot-style as such but a glimpse of the real, unmediated as possible, slicing through the artifice. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
It's a reason that underpins many of my top ten favourite matches of all time, a list I hastily constructed one afternoon while chatting online, despite their stylistic disparities. Mick Foley's bump off the cell cuts through that world WWE bullshit more than any number of CZW self-atrocities. The relationship between Bret and Owen Hart cannot be faked, nor can the meeting-of-worlds between Kiyoshi Tamura and Tsuyoshi Kohsaka in RINGS or even Hiroshi Tanahashi and Minoru Suzuki in New Japan.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Uj1fLGKXjnQ/XKIIGyLPT1I/AAAAAAAAEWU/l2kmHNiiFB4z_Ij8mX_-rWRL8TNA--1sACLcBGAs/s1600/tktstart.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="246" data-original-width="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Uj1fLGKXjnQ/XKIIGyLPT1I/AAAAAAAAEWU/l2kmHNiiFB4z_Ij8mX_-rWRL8TNA--1sACLcBGAs/s1600/tktstart.JPG" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A sacred text</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
But the artifice needs to be there, to give something to slice through, as well as offering an illusion of framework and order and control over direction: this is why despite the excellent scholarship performed by KS on <a href="http://tkscissors.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">TK Scissors</a> (he is now delving into PRIDE and Quintet with signature flair), I retain favour with UWF over RINGS and its parallel shoot-stylists in UWF-i, PWFG, Kingdom, and BattlARTS (though I love and respect all). </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
A note: I previously wrote a 2000 word essay on one of these matches. I will be cherry-picking the less florid parts (it was very florid) and adding little bits here and there, in case you're thinking you might have read some of this before.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Last time we were in Fukuoka was ten months ago. Akira Maeda blasted Kazuo Yamazaki into space with kicks, Nobuhiko Takada played along with Norman Smiley for six minutes before ending him, and Tatsuo Nakano genuinely ended the UWF career of trainee Tsunehito Naito in 2 minutes of pure violence. It clearly worked a treat as the house is sold out and thirsty as hell for more.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
A great opening for those who have purchased the home VHS version: black & white footage of an escalator, spotting someone famous comes up into view and...mock paparrazzi noises to pap UWF mid-card superstar Yoji Anjo looking like he's mislaid his hotel keys.</div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ud_YI9eL9NU/XKILD8AftFI/AAAAAAAAEWg/mQlMzQ3QGIQEwDffWnn2aexoULDPoYoDgCLcBGAs/s1600/hakata01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="323" data-original-width="593" height="217" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ud_YI9eL9NU/XKILD8AftFI/AAAAAAAAEWg/mQlMzQ3QGIQEwDffWnn2aexoULDPoYoDgCLcBGAs/s400/hakata01.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">OH YOU DIDN'T ANJO? YOUR ASS BETTER CALL A PORTER</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Akira Maeda puffs his cheeks as the camera sees him saunter by. Fukuoka is a summer destination in the south and there's only one look that can be pulled off, and here is Yoshiaki Fujiwara with your seasonal lookbook.</div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-PpNbjtPz_Lw/XKILsTSgAsI/AAAAAAAAEWo/kifQH2EiEcswsgfGVzuSbCNQzCDaF8IlACLcBGAs/s1600/hakata02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="335" data-original-width="604" height="221" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-PpNbjtPz_Lw/XKILsTSgAsI/AAAAAAAAEWo/kifQH2EiEcswsgfGVzuSbCNQzCDaF8IlACLcBGAs/s400/hakata02.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">MURDERDAD VII: REMURDERED</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
There are a dozen great shots in this comic intro and another dozen in the montage that advertises our top two matches for this evening - sadly, I do not think we will see either of them in this blog, so I will skip this part for now.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The traditional fighter parade occurs and it is clear to me at this time that this crowd is insane with joy. The sound is at the point of peaking nearly throughout, but it isn't bad sound. The audience are incredibly loud and vocal all evening and it should be stated here that this plays into the feverish rising violence that occurs throughout. This audience are jackals, they love the scent of blood, but they're also ripe for a fun parade of ten wrestlers. Yoji Anjo, Hero Of Nagoya, gives an oration so rapturously met that he could have just read from a menu and got a positive hand. I love it.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Even Kiyoshi Tamura (here 1 fight into his career) and another unidentified wrestler's rules demonstration is met with the appreciative <i>uhhhhhhhhhh </i>sound.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The fighting properly starts with <b>Minoru Suzuki</b> taking on <b>Mark Rush</b>, in his 4th visit to UWF (W/L: 1-2). At the outset I feel it is important to remark that this match is a 30 minute draw and that it is not super well-regarded by most. It isn't the opinion of others that is terribly important here and more the fact that throughout this only intermittently-entertaining match the crowd are glued and vocal.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-i27IuUeM5lE/XKI71NH6ruI/AAAAAAAAEYk/xg66VGwY-vAu7Xxzpqs5lE8hD0q8SvySQCLcBGAs/s1600/hakata19.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="428" data-original-width="541" height="316" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-i27IuUeM5lE/XKI71NH6ruI/AAAAAAAAEYk/xg66VGwY-vAu7Xxzpqs5lE8hD0q8SvySQCLcBGAs/s400/hakata19.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
Things begin with a slick, if slightly-loose, series of grapples exchanged. The crowd treat everything with reverence, as if one of these gentle side-locks could result in devastation. Suzuki hoiks Rush over in a very crisp German suplex before we're even 3 minutes deep and everything is really pleasant and quite good here.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-nddcerJwB5Y/XKI71DEewUI/AAAAAAAAEYo/kVcWYh3iY9wwPhxGmM1JkszTqhYkKrnMACEwYBhgL/s1600/hakata18.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="434" data-original-width="552" height="313" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-nddcerJwB5Y/XKI71DEewUI/AAAAAAAAEYo/kVcWYh3iY9wwPhxGmM1JkszTqhYkKrnMACEwYBhgL/s400/hakata18.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I loved you in <i>Old Joy</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
For the next 27 minutes the pattern remains much the same, only with slightly diminishing returns and massive accumulations of sweat. At ten minutes there is a standing tentative grip fight as if in the opening moments of a match, while at fifteen the space between grapples is punctured by Mark Rush's slow enziguri. Near the 20 minute mark, Suzuki scores the first down by piledriving Rush.<br />
<br />
In the final ten minutes the grapples start to feel a little more manic and meaningful, with rope breaks saving one or the other from certain death. But the draw feels inevitable from the outset, as I remark here in 2019 as I did in 2001 when I first saw this tape. There are some cool bits, like when Rush attempts to stomp a mudhole in Suzuki only to have his leg caught and transposed into a heel hook. Fans of casual and skilled grappling would surely enjoy this while fans of pro wrestling in the classic sense would find this anathema.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Q7jMQ33l3no/XKI3RQ1g_NI/AAAAAAAAEYQ/xc93c3ksYOQsvEItaZqkgRbDK2VT6Sg4QCEwYBhgL/s1600/hakata06.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="420" data-original-width="622" height="270" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Q7jMQ33l3no/XKI3RQ1g_NI/AAAAAAAAEYQ/xc93c3ksYOQsvEItaZqkgRbDK2VT6Sg4QCEwYBhgL/s400/hakata06.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
After a brief video introduction we see our next two combatants in the ring, psyching themselves up. As the referee reads the riot act at arms length, <b>Masakatsu Funaki </b>
extends his palm in a professional and comradely courtesy. <b>Tatsuo
Nakano</b>, inches shorter, doughier, less handsome, refutes the palm with a
hard kick. The Fukuoka crowd explodes, at once disturbed and delighted
by the crushing of convention.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-OSO-KMmGvK0/XKIZS7XjwkI/AAAAAAAAEW4/yaXm5AD96wAX_ZKhShXoEgMwywDgYs-QgCLcBGAs/s1600/hakata03.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="364" data-original-width="522" height="278" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-OSO-KMmGvK0/XKIZS7XjwkI/AAAAAAAAEW4/yaXm5AD96wAX_ZKhShXoEgMwywDgYs-QgCLcBGAs/s400/hakata03.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">in a way, Nakano IS a fighting square</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Nakano, replete with both mullet and pompadour, sets about his man in an
ungainly fashion, exchanging forceful open-handed slaps before changing tack and shooting for one of his
opponent's legs. Standing his ground, Funaki adroitly raises his knee to
meet the barrelling Nakano square in the head, arrowing between his
windmilling arms. For the opening 30 seconds or more, both men are
locked in a struggle.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-h9-dg3_LjOQ/XKIzznsyIyI/AAAAAAAAEXQ/iZs6w6r_gSoDbANs9v4WO_zi0gfM8GzrwCLcBGAs/s1600/hakata07.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="415" data-original-width="594" height="278" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-h9-dg3_LjOQ/XKIzznsyIyI/AAAAAAAAEXQ/iZs6w6r_gSoDbANs9v4WO_zi0gfM8GzrwCLcBGAs/s400/hakata07.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">the first...</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-21HvFW-cuis/XKIzz2HdaZI/AAAAAAAAEXM/r1URm9KX6Zc1OSsoKS_noeebnaA3XgkGwCLcBGAs/s1600/hakata08.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="427" data-original-width="612" height="278" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-21HvFW-cuis/XKIzz2HdaZI/AAAAAAAAEXM/r1URm9KX6Zc1OSsoKS_noeebnaA3XgkGwCLcBGAs/s400/hakata08.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">...three...</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6fxHquzp4ks/XKIzzm-AEPI/AAAAAAAAEXU/7Vq6yNAsv7Qiq-UQyf7_YbqyqLBxmOM-gCLcBGAs/s1600/hakata09.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="419" data-original-width="602" height="277" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6fxHquzp4ks/XKIzzm-AEPI/AAAAAAAAEXU/7Vq6yNAsv7Qiq-UQyf7_YbqyqLBxmOM-gCLcBGAs/s400/hakata09.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">...seconds.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
These mentions of the physical appearance and stylistic approach of
Tatsuo Nakano are not designed to diminish. The contrasts between Nakano
and Funaki are immediately recognised by the 4000 people crowded into
the Hakata Star Lanes bowling alley. Masakatsu Funaki is handsome,
princely, tall, chiselled, without a clear hole in his all-around
fighting game. All conceivable aces have been dealt into Funaki's hands
at birth and added to in life. He is a company man. Fighter Josh Barnett would
later, piling on the praise of his fighting prowess, describe Funaki as
'the symbol of Japan.'<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-5U6J5N8UXP8/XKIZSwzAtmI/AAAAAAAAEW0/zXHXZ4-6a30kbT9fhVa3zAcDl9jDu2HMwCEwYBhgL/s1600/hakata04.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="372" data-original-width="461" height="322" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-5U6J5N8UXP8/XKIZSwzAtmI/AAAAAAAAEW0/zXHXZ4-6a30kbT9fhVa3zAcDl9jDu2HMwCEwYBhgL/s400/hakata04.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"the symbol of Japan"</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Nakano takes the leg but has a problem developing anything like a
workable position. Funaki scissors him and neutralises the fight on the
ground, carefully working to his back whilst keeping Nakano's head
squished tight between his thighs. Realising that pretence of Plan B is
silly, Nakano pretends to get caught in the finicky business of gaining grip as he works to his feet before letting go entirely and
slapping the prone Funaki in the face three times. <br />
<br />
The crowd roar NA-KA-NO in delight (as they do continuously) at this
development. As strikes go it is merely a fine line in a rap battle or
the overwhelming of a lowly-paid counter assistant at the DVLA / DMV.
Nonetheless, it signifies shots fired and a hope for a knockout blow. <br />
<br />
Working back to his feet, Funaki remains under torrential assault.
Nakano lurches for a front facelock and quickly raises a knee to the
chest to open Funaki up, gliding quickly into a double-underhook
position. The Man, being The Man for a reason, has defences stout enough
to resist an initial charge. It is too early for the suplex Nakano
attempts. Funaki resists and, as Nakano falls backward to perform the
sacrificial element of a suplex, lands atop in the perfect position to
clean the belligerent underdog's clock. Panic stations.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-QZfp7q2gJMs/XKI2ABs59wI/AAAAAAAAEXo/9G1abUQAxb8vQkcf845gbOSuGgmjEvwwwCEwYBhgL/s1600/hakata10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="416" data-original-width="615" height="270" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-QZfp7q2gJMs/XKI2ABs59wI/AAAAAAAAEXo/9G1abUQAxb8vQkcf845gbOSuGgmjEvwwwCEwYBhgL/s400/hakata10.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Beefcake in repose</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
An overhand slap crushes the stricken Nakano. Funaki takes to the
vertical to kick and stamp the life out of Nakano. Funaki pauses,
perhaps mistaking the cheers for his opponent as a plea for mercy,
allowing Nakano to catch a kick and attempt an impudent dragon screw. It
fails and Funaki's regal disposition drops. Nakano's head becomes both
volleyball and football, struck vigorously with hand and foot. <br />
<br />
Nakano lands his blows throughout, favouring intense slaps and cocky
takedowns, but he cannot land a lasting psychic wound upon Funaki.
Meanwhile, less than three minutes into the contest, Nakano is bloodied
from the nose and technically exposed from his efforts. The doctor, in
this context a mere ombudsman of health, is called in to fix the
superficial damage. A vigorous fistpump to the crowd after treatment shows that
the champion of the people is still ready to fight.<br />
<br />
Funaki's follow-through never emerges and Nakano breaks the hold with a
humdinger of a slap and leaps to his feet to add a couple more and a
vicious, coruscating kick to the face. Funaki seeks the upright but
staggers and topples over, taking a mandatory count (UWF rules reminder:
knockouts and submissions only, no pinfalls). <br />
<br />
Nakano swarms after Funaki as soon as he gets up, slapping his opponent
hard and going after that double-underhook suplex anew. He lands it,
securing a picture perfect kesa getame (side control headlock), putting
Funaki deep in trouble. But really, anger, perhaps misplaced anger is
all that fuels Nakano. His ground game is shoddy, allowing Funaki not
just the chance to get up, but to return fire. Once again, Nakano
attempts a desperation dragon screw that is rebuffed even more violently
than the first, as Funaki stands directly on his head mid-technique. <br />
<br />
Fans of Kazushi Sakuraba's most suicidal victories (such as <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z_tsO2-8WQI" target="_blank">his final victory against Zelg Galešić at DREAM 12</a>) will find much to adore in
Nakano's adhesiveness in the next section. Nakano is a barnacle to
Funaki's left leg in spite of a barrage of strikes from all remaining
limbs and points of articulation. He only lets go under the duress of
Funaki's rear naked choke and face rakes that spread the blood around
his face like jam on a slice of toast.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-uOPg34QbYjQ/XKI2AOpxuBI/AAAAAAAAEXs/nD36PAHNhHwioK9zBDnKMXi-HmcZdtfbgCEwYBhgL/s1600/hakata12.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="428" data-original-width="633" height="270" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-uOPg34QbYjQ/XKI2AOpxuBI/AAAAAAAAEXs/nD36PAHNhHwioK9zBDnKMXi-HmcZdtfbgCEwYBhgL/s400/hakata12.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
Back to feet and another moment that highlights disparity. Funaki
attempts a back suplex but Nakano slams on the breaks, sagging like a
year-old bag of cement. Funaki rolls around, hits a physics-defying
wheel kick to the back of Nakano's head, and then re-attempts the back
suplex successfully. These are not the careful neck-bridging suplexes of
weeks in the training school either, rather they're low-angled and
designed to rattle the bones of the recipient as they skid across the
canvas. Funaki is dangerously in control now as Nakano takes a brief
count.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-JquKllykxOw/XKI2A09lttI/AAAAAAAAEX8/JTRGfQ-zOQgU9NZ0-JNe2rOgtrGAtfU4gCEwYBhgL/s1600/hakata13.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="421" data-original-width="486" height="346" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-JquKllykxOw/XKI2A09lttI/AAAAAAAAEX8/JTRGfQ-zOQgU9NZ0-JNe2rOgtrGAtfU4gCEwYBhgL/s400/hakata13.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
Visibly sapped of energy, Nakano puts up his dukes only to expose his
lower half to an easy take-down that is comfortably progressed into a
vicious single leg crab. We see behind the machinery at Funaki's
contorted pain, eager to end the contest, eager to suppress the
hostility mounting against him, to stamp out Nakano's life force. The
crowd never give up voicing their approval, even though their emblem is
bleeding profusely and unaware of which town he is in. Nakano makes the
ropes for momentary relief and the referee motions to the doctor, who
looks like OJ Simpson trial judge Lance Ito, to tend to the pulped
Nakano.<br />
<br />
Nakano remonstrates with the doctor, referee, and a wrestler who joins
them in the ring, demonstrating his ability to continue despite a glaze
about the eyes. Sensing the kill, Funaki steps forward and straight into
Nakano's trap. A pair of high kicks floor Funaki. We are dreaming. We
have wrested control from the state. We have beaten the company that
mistreated us. A revolution is in the offing. The Man is face down and
taking a count and The People are rapt.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-HvRQ4RYgw_I/XKI2AOdJd1I/AAAAAAAAEX4/bHKjVTFawbod8NDN7dBstfRYo8JQBo_QACEwYBhgL/s1600/hakata11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="408" data-original-width="592" height="275" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-HvRQ4RYgw_I/XKI2AOdJd1I/AAAAAAAAEX4/bHKjVTFawbod8NDN7dBstfRYo8JQBo_QACEwYBhgL/s400/hakata11.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
The dream continues. On Funaki getting up, Nakano steals a leaf from his
opponent's playbook, attacking the moment both soles touch the floor.
This attack causes the referee to step in as Nakano smirks, whilst
Funaki staggers backwards, contemplating defeat. Nakano goes wild with
knees, slaps both impertinent and focused, another grim suplex atop
Funaki's head, before destroying all known repression with a pair of
gruesome kicks that see Funaki take a third count. Blood streams from
Nakano's face and it tastes of the dawn.<br />
<br />
But this daylight never breaks. After absorbing a stiff German suplex,
Funaki powers up, seemingly from nowhere. A cold wind blows. Funaki
simply lifts Nakano high above his head and drops him onto his back. In
swift and expert fashion, Funaki rolls Nakano over for a Texas
Cloverleaf. It is late and the temperature drops rapidly.<br />
<br />
Cinched in a tight arc, Nakano, despite the ascendancy, despite the will
of the people, despite the aesthetic, cannot escape the fate designated
for him and indeed is proved a fool for ever deigning to try. Funaki
wins. The promise of the slap that curtailed pleasantries at the outset,
threatening delivery into a different era, never materialises.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gi-H679sSPE/XKI2BGiD_AI/AAAAAAAAEYA/lOIH9RcG7u8Awg7nLsEHg6Of1Ykaoaw6QCEwYBhgL/s1600/hakata14.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="415" data-original-width="577" height="287" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gi-H679sSPE/XKI2BGiD_AI/AAAAAAAAEYA/lOIH9RcG7u8Awg7nLsEHg6Of1Ykaoaw6QCEwYBhgL/s400/hakata14.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<b>TL;DR</b> - super match, *****.<br />
<br />
extra note: this match is ranked 3rd on UWF's top ten matches as of the end of 1989. the match in 2nd place is later on this show. I am thankful that it isn't here otherwise my fingers would fall off.<br />
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CWbVNsQGYI0/XKI3JnuBxuI/AAAAAAAAEYI/IpFTY1R_eHwgqUjwc1F4EKM-o9atdD5iACLcBGAs/s1600/hakata16.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="390" data-original-width="452" height="276" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CWbVNsQGYI0/XKI3JnuBxuI/AAAAAAAAEYI/IpFTY1R_eHwgqUjwc1F4EKM-o9atdD5iACLcBGAs/s320/hakata16.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">k i l l s c r e e n</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<b>Nobuhiko Takada</b> and <b>Shigeo Miyato</b> are in the third match, but it is only a couple of minutes old, with Takada in expected control, when the tape shuts off. We shall save it for another day.<br />
<br />
-----------<br />
<br />
<b>UPDATE</b>: 16/04/2019<br />
<br />
I demand an award for services to obscure blogs, having dropped a not-trivial amount of money to procure six UWF events. Five are from 1990 and will be dripped out on here over the next few months, but I also splashed just to see the final hour of this one.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-JjkUZP0yul0/XLXkY3T2rrI/AAAAAAAAEbA/CpNEWwU9QoUkF3AeE_PwR5MgJJLgiVrFACLcBGAs/s1600/hakata24.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="422" data-original-width="600" height="281" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-JjkUZP0yul0/XLXkY3T2rrI/AAAAAAAAEbA/CpNEWwU9QoUkF3AeE_PwR5MgJJLgiVrFACLcBGAs/s400/hakata24.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
The first two matches in this second hour are remarkably similar. Both feature a headline act big guy (the aforementioned Takada and <b>Akira Maeda</b>) taking on a middleweight mid-carder (Miyato and <b>Yoji Anjo</b>). Both matches are laid out in similar ways, with the expected winner dominating large stretches and their opponents having some fiery comebacks that the house screams approvingly at. It has been a strong point of this particular show - everyone gets over tonight, win or lose.<br />
<br />
Takada's match with Miyato is mostly strikes, while Maeda does some rough-house groundwork before firing up the suplex machine, but both go 10 minutes and are really solid exponents of the general UWF house style and hierarchy. Here are some pictures of both matches.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-amwZS6ubzC0/XLXkfB7qHbI/AAAAAAAAEbE/rhGscOj0jEQEbWe-A4MEYI7lfMLazaCGACLcBGAs/s1600/hakata25.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="405" data-original-width="586" height="276" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-amwZS6ubzC0/XLXkfB7qHbI/AAAAAAAAEbE/rhGscOj0jEQEbWe-A4MEYI7lfMLazaCGACLcBGAs/s400/hakata25.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
Tonight's main event rated #2 on the official UWF Best Matches (up to the end of 1989), one ahead of the barnstormer between Funaki and Nakano that took place earlier on this evening. The personnel offers suggestion of a mouthwatering classic too: versatile nearlyman <b>Kazuo Yamazaki</b> takes on the smiling waza-psychopath <b>Yoshiaki Fujiwara</b>.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-XFmRFTGCtuI/XLXekxuEsiI/AAAAAAAAEak/mcmJuldhhCEr0Qmocd9XIMIqAJJ8hGc4gCLcBGAs/s1600/hakata20.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="423" data-original-width="591" height="286" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-XFmRFTGCtuI/XLXekxuEsiI/AAAAAAAAEak/mcmJuldhhCEr0Qmocd9XIMIqAJJ8hGc4gCLcBGAs/s400/hakata20.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
Both gentlemen are rapturously received at the introduction; you can barely slide a metaphorical cigarette paper between their adulation. <br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-hwHGn_NSkJE/XLXekzctEfI/AAAAAAAAEao/IbRLZl9fgB47E3lW9mSp0cpROScyHHZIQCEwYBhgL/s1600/hakata21.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="420" data-original-width="561" height="298" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-hwHGn_NSkJE/XLXekzctEfI/AAAAAAAAEao/IbRLZl9fgB47E3lW9mSp0cpROScyHHZIQCEwYBhgL/s400/hakata21.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">MURDERDAD VIII: YOU DO YOUR MURDER FOR NOTHING<br />
GET YOUR CHICKS FOR FREE</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
The match is pretty good too, but it isn't as great as UWF would have you believe. It's not just because the crowd are very quiet during this match for long stretches - they're super attentive and they explode appropriately. It's a slow burn with a few stretches of flinty leg-locking and submission reversals off the back of three furious 9-10 minuters, pitting two premier league guys of pro-wrestling-as-real-feeling against each other.<br />
<br />
But it becomes, quite explicitly, a Fujiwara match that Yamazaki is in. Yamazaki backs Fujiwara into a corner multiple times, despite this being more-or-less a Fujiwara "spot" - get backed up, lighting counter and - BAM! - Uncle Murdergrip is wringing the shit out of you once again.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://segundacaida.blogspot.com/2009/08/yoshiaki-fujiwara-never-takes-step-back.html" target="_blank">Segunda Caida</a> had a really interesting write-up of this match, and I'd like to quote twice from it:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
This was my number one match in the Other Japan Best of the 90's voting,
and truly a beautiful piece of professional wrestling. It is paced
differently then any of the other matches in the Top 15, and I am
guessing the odd pacing may have been a reason it finished low on some
peoples ballots. Fujiwara, especially in the late 80's and 90's does
this really stop-start almost Fugazish pacing, where you have big
exchanges or moves, and then lulls, where both guys would circle or
feint, before the next attack. I really like this kind of pacing, it is
the kind of thing you often see in shootfights or boxing matches, really
brings drama to the moments of action. </blockquote>
The analysis of Fujiwara here is true: his matches are like this, and as I have mentioned before - it is when Fujiwara and his guys turn up in UWF that there is a real quantum leap in the art of shoot-style wrestling. Not in the star power necessarily, but in just incorporating fundamentals and strategy into pro-wrestling.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-mZz5jtfgAQg/XLXkQFVjOrI/AAAAAAAAEa8/4usDZx90j0giWZcVGHagTnAN-c-_e7WYwCLcBGAs/s1600/hakata22.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="421" data-original-width="561" height="300" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-mZz5jtfgAQg/XLXkQFVjOrI/AAAAAAAAEa8/4usDZx90j0giWZcVGHagTnAN-c-_e7WYwCLcBGAs/s400/hakata22.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
But, the rub for this match: I like Yamazaki a lot and yet here he is just there because Yamazaki is high-ranked and therefore it is a good win for Fujiwara. It could have been anyone with the basic skills. Fujiwara plays heel, not taking Yamazaki seriously, and rather than it rising sympathy for Yamazaki it just serves to make him seem a little more anonymous.<br />
<br />
What is also interesting to me is this paradox outlined here:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
So we are at 28 minutes and Yamazaki unloads with nasty headbut right to
Fujiwara's mouth. Now this is a clearly a receipt for the headbutts
earlier in the show. Fujiwara comes up with blood dripping from his
mouth, and this look on his face "So were throwing headbutts now,
Motherfucker," and he just unloads with three nasty headbutts including
one right to the eye for the TKO at 29 minutes 30 seconds. Yamazaki was
technically fine here, but this was the Fujiwara show. Just an artist at
telling a story with smirks and eye rolls and sneers. Every action had a
reaction, great great stuff.</blockquote>
This is all true. Especially it being 'the Fujiwara show'. Fujiwara, this guy who heightened the believability of shoot-style, is a pro-wrestling guy at heart. His face moves a mile a minute compared to Yamazaki's ever-stoic militarism.<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jAHDrQX8pu0/XLXkK_wYK-I/AAAAAAAAEa4/w1Qo7aONJr0Cau-bjbGEQwmdZftY-xPCwCLcBGAs/s1600/hakata23.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="434" data-original-width="609" height="285" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jAHDrQX8pu0/XLXkK_wYK-I/AAAAAAAAEa4/w1Qo7aONJr0Cau-bjbGEQwmdZftY-xPCwCLcBGAs/s400/hakata23.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
Anyway, it's a really good match, but I think both have had better in these walls.<br />
<br />
<b>NEXT: </b>UWF enters 1990.</div>
D. Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14629124673589292567noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6812605115270563531.post-70492647112098727312019-03-31T14:55:00.000-07:002019-03-31T14:59:01.770-07:00UWF 14/06/1989 - FIGHTING SQUARE NAGOYA (12/31)<b>UWF Fighting Square Nagoya</b><br />
Aichi Prefectural Gym, Nagoya<br />
14th June, 1990<br />
att. 8000<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
In (the real) Jorge Luis Borges' 1940 short story 'Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius', the discovery of one volume of a 1902 <i>Encyclopedia Britannica</i> leads the fictive Borges and his friend Adolfo Bioy Casares to learn about the land of Uqbar, presumed in the region of Iraq, and its unique culture. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>One of the schools of Tlön goes so far as to negate time: it reasons that the present is indefinite, that the future has no reality other than as a present memory. Another school declares that all time has already transpired and that our life is only the crepuscular and no doubt falsified an mutilated memory or reflection of an irrecoverable process. Another, that the history of the universe - and in it our lives and the most tenuous detail of our lives - is the scripture produced by a subordinate god in order to communicate with a demon. </i></blockquote>
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
From the few concrete details and allusions to philosophical viewpoints (its people were extreme subjective idealists who held that the only contents of the world were one's mind) contained within this fragment, the entire world and people of Uqbar are reconstructed <i>in absentia</i>.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br />
<a name='more'></a>In the 2000 anthology of <i>David Boring</i> strips from Daniel Clowes' <i>Eightball</i>, the only knowledge the near-titular character (his surname is Borring) has of his biological father is an edition of a comic called <i>The Yellow Streak</i> that he wrote.</div>
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/--I8KyLuiQMM/XKC0YcW7j8I/AAAAAAAAETw/CF5Xfz96Tdky5OvwoT3dwAPsAh_FaVlZgCLcBGAs/s1600/davidboring-orig.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="324" data-original-width="486" height="266" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/--I8KyLuiQMM/XKC0YcW7j8I/AAAAAAAAETw/CF5Xfz96Tdky5OvwoT3dwAPsAh_FaVlZgCLcBGAs/s400/davidboring-orig.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Boring's mother shreds the comic upon discovering it, leaving her son with only fragments of the inscrutable fragment he already had. These few panels, scattered throughout, act as commentary on the central narrative. But their distending and decontextualising in the damage of time perhaps lead Boring to become idolater, extrapolating a father as a figure of not-mother.</div>
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--- </div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
I have been looking to proceed with this blog for some time now and am prepared to accept fragments and pieces in order to power forward. Thanks to Connor (<a href="http://twitter.com/isalrightnow" target="_blank">@isalrightnow</a> on Twitter) I now have one hour of two shows (not abridged shows, the show simply stop after an hour of tape) that I am going to write about. If the rest turn up later, so much the better. It would be better to build another world based on fragments of the UWF that it would be to have <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikolaus_Pevsner" target="_blank">Pevsner</a>-esque accuracy of lesser works.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-pwfGRlxsyw4/XKEy3g-r1AI/AAAAAAAAET8/NHov7OAosF0JenslhoF7aFvufrTa9W14gCLcBGAs/s1600/nagoya01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="429" data-original-width="837" height="205" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-pwfGRlxsyw4/XKEy3g-r1AI/AAAAAAAAET8/NHov7OAosF0JenslhoF7aFvufrTa9W14gCLcBGAs/s400/nagoya01.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
So here we are in the city of Nagoya, a densely-populated city between Tokyo and Osaka, and already the warm glow of shoot-style splendour enswaddles me (yes that is a word now) as a very brief credits sequence announcing the two major matches of the evening precedes a parade of the ten fighters that scrapped, slapped, popped, and tapped around the canvas this evening in June 1989. King Maeda gives a brief oration and with much further ado (there is a rules demonstration lasting a couple of minutes), we eventually find ourselves in the ring for the first match.<br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4YWkpn5lLB0/XKEy6sCeesI/AAAAAAAAEUY/5so3U6SvQHgj_0VEdGveXk4r60selr7CACEwYBhgL/s1600/nagoya08.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="408" data-original-width="592" height="275" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4YWkpn5lLB0/XKEy6sCeesI/AAAAAAAAEUY/5so3U6SvQHgj_0VEdGveXk4r60selr7CACEwYBhgL/s400/nagoya08.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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The ravishing spectacle of American beefcake <b>Bart Vale</b>, who gets lots of oooohs and aaaaahs for his pretty-if-not-exactly-devastating high kicks, towers over the relatively puny mass of<b> Shigeo Miyato</b>. Freshly divested of his Tiger Mask-indebted trousers, Miyato has opted for leggings that are split between mauve and coral. A bold choice and rendered gorgeously in VHS.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-eZhq68iFr6U/XKEy4N-5NdI/AAAAAAAAEUA/y4veYUKBDxYxxp7rsexbEAaG_kE25XmzACEwYBhgL/s1600/nagoya03.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="409" data-original-width="546" height="239" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-eZhq68iFr6U/XKEy4N-5NdI/AAAAAAAAEUA/y4veYUKBDxYxxp7rsexbEAaG_kE25XmzACEwYBhgL/s320/nagoya03.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
This match is simple. Building around a well-told story where Miyato has to unlock the one-dimensional approach of Yankee idiot, Vale lunges at Miyato with his near foot-in-height of advantage, keeping his opponent at distance like a schoolyard bully putting his hand on the forehead of a weakling victim. Sometimes the match collapses to the ground but the referee is having none of it, standing them up and telling them return to stand-up.<br />
<br />
Eventually after the umpteenth barrage of kicks from Vale forces against the ropes, Miyato spots his opening: a swift boot to the knees of Vale, crumpling him. It is worth a little look at this in closer detail:<br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6E5Jl1f76Hw/XKEy7VQiDUI/AAAAAAAAEUg/urPtZYCYLMIjjo5js_qp7A1QymKFlgCzACEwYBhgL/s1600/nagoya10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="387" data-original-width="552" height="280" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6E5Jl1f76Hw/XKEy7VQiDUI/AAAAAAAAEUg/urPtZYCYLMIjjo5js_qp7A1QymKFlgCzACEwYBhgL/s400/nagoya10.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-V7_2sF4doJg/XKEy76fbVSI/AAAAAAAAEUk/crj-6ReKHbcmZBtLtQXs81c-sbsPBIGEgCEwYBhgL/s1600/nagoya11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="402" data-original-width="540" height="297" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-V7_2sF4doJg/XKEy76fbVSI/AAAAAAAAEUk/crj-6ReKHbcmZBtLtQXs81c-sbsPBIGEgCEwYBhgL/s400/nagoya11.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-KTpmdib2hUE/XKEy8NUXA8I/AAAAAAAAEUo/6t3Lbb5X_vsBRURlGXv1QZxve7OOqs1GQCEwYBhgL/s1600/nagoya12.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="403" data-original-width="573" height="281" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-KTpmdib2hUE/XKEy8NUXA8I/AAAAAAAAEUo/6t3Lbb5X_vsBRURlGXv1QZxve7OOqs1GQCEwYBhgL/s400/nagoya12.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-DmQ-b052da8/XKEy8QZQN7I/AAAAAAAAEUs/Jxe3ttdi5O8WFw9xXPuYHqaB0dnbnfUfwCEwYBhgL/s1600/nagoya13.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="413" data-original-width="573" height="287" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-DmQ-b052da8/XKEy8QZQN7I/AAAAAAAAEUs/Jxe3ttdi5O8WFw9xXPuYHqaB0dnbnfUfwCEwYBhgL/s400/nagoya13.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-WgHOi7baiyA/XKEy9OxyT7I/AAAAAAAAEUw/V8L9wanpf2UXHY08YqUXrTaPgwPrBK7ywCEwYBhgL/s1600/nagoya14.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="397" data-original-width="596" height="266" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-WgHOi7baiyA/XKEy9OxyT7I/AAAAAAAAEUw/V8L9wanpf2UXHY08YqUXrTaPgwPrBK7ywCEwYBhgL/s400/nagoya14.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
The moment goes nowhere, but Vale now knows he can't keep distance so he chases Miyato and again finds himself ruined in a big seionage that takes both men to the floor and is broken up.<br />
<br />
Miyato has this one won if he can pick his spot, whilst Vale is weary as the match enters double figures in minutes. Sensing the time has come, Miyato unleashes another ippon seionage attempt! But Vale scouts it, hauls Miyato in, applies the rear naked choke, locks his gargantuan legs around Miyato's small frame and takes a back bump centre ring. Miyato is going nowhere and taps!<br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Xv1D6ipvUdU/XKEy61X78DI/AAAAAAAAEUc/NAMXSq-ZuKELca2pygxuBj9en6yqJ79BgCEwYBhgL/s1600/nagoya09.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="418" data-original-width="684" height="243" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Xv1D6ipvUdU/XKEy61X78DI/AAAAAAAAEUc/NAMXSq-ZuKELca2pygxuBj9en6yqJ79BgCEwYBhgL/s400/nagoya09.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
Miyato slaps the mat in frustration, as if to say "I had him!" Nonetheless, he is charitable enough to accept Vale's offer of a shared hand-raise at the finish. A decent enough opener, though not exactly riveting. There were a couple of fairly egregious cooperation moments, particularly when Vale practically Fosbury Flops over Miyato to help a suplex.<br />
<br />
The crowd gently warmed, <b>Yoji Anjo</b> cranks the thermostat up high by charging young princeling <b>Masakatsu Funaki</b> from the bell. The equal volume of cheers received by both men at the outset suggests both are well-loved, and so it proves throughout this back-and-forth barnstormer - the noise is constant and approving of everything that happens.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-An4Nf-fuY0c/XKEy5fUoHjI/AAAAAAAAEUM/PbF2sTDv3iA14ODmOMMllLdld9veAwlhgCEwYBhgL/s1600/nagoya05.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="402" data-original-width="549" height="292" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-An4Nf-fuY0c/XKEy5fUoHjI/AAAAAAAAEUM/PbF2sTDv3iA14ODmOMMllLdld9veAwlhgCEwYBhgL/s400/nagoya05.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
Things moved far too quickly to be written down in full over a match lasting 22.30. However, the broad schematic is this: Anjo senses he is not as good as Funaki so he's going to have to get in there and Mr. 200% it on the mat from the get go because this Funaki cat is one for the future but even now he doesn't mess around. Anjo pelts Funaki with slaps, riding the occasional counter to give out more.<br />
<br />
Whenever Funaki grabs hold of Anjo, his grip is loosened or Anjo squirms his way to freedom. With lighting ease (some may say too easy) Anjo transitions out of being mounted with a huge slap and then armbarring the hell out of the stunned Funaki. It is not the flinty, stop-starty match that Anjo often has. He rolls through beautifully for a heel hook attempt. He moves from armbar, to triangle, then to top triangle as if performing an exhibition - but with compelling and natural vigour.<br />
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-YuFhgXsi3C0/XKEy473A8iI/AAAAAAAAEU8/IU5ErmI80xUAS4vyzwWznayT50jxrk2hACEwYBhgL/s1600/nagoya04.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="431" data-original-width="597" height="287" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-YuFhgXsi3C0/XKEy473A8iI/AAAAAAAAEU8/IU5ErmI80xUAS4vyzwWznayT50jxrk2hACEwYBhgL/s400/nagoya04.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Everything here is really great and it takes places in a strange indeterminate zone that is never entirely pro-wrestling and is never entirely shooting. It is UWF.<br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-oj_zyBfKRVk/XKE2bm_waRI/AAAAAAAAEVY/S8HRWRdRuf4syc-C4DAXGFnV0R8qvY8gwCLcBGAs/s1600/nagoya17.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="393" data-original-width="573" height="273" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-oj_zyBfKRVk/XKE2bm_waRI/AAAAAAAAEVY/S8HRWRdRuf4syc-C4DAXGFnV0R8qvY8gwCLcBGAs/s400/nagoya17.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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It is pro-wrestling because there's a whole comeback by Funaki and wider story here about the mid-card veteran looking to hold his spot against the future lord; but it isn't because they're blocking and hitting hard and looking for any opening rather than 'weakening a joint'. It is performed, clearly so, but it passes the sniff test of veracity. It is great. <a href="http://westernlariat.com/reviews/uwfjune89.htm" target="_blank">Western Lariat </a>agrees: <br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
The really great thing about this, as is the case with many great UWF
matches, is that both wrestlers benefit from the match. Anjo was able to
show that he was clearly the better man today, but, after a few more
matches (this was only his third), and more practice in the dojo, that
Funaki will undoubtably be able to beat Anjo one day</blockquote>
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Funaki is on top near the finish, and like Miyato in the match before appears to have this won before snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. Going for a suplex, Anjo counters into an armlock and forces the tap. A really super match that the crowd go wild for.<br />
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-gxr81oVY1K8/XKE2dITIcUI/AAAAAAAAEVo/lqMJpf8x-i4U8jhvu_VskctzgBmd_3NnACLcBGAs/s1600/nagoya21.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="429" data-original-width="597" height="286" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-gxr81oVY1K8/XKE2dITIcUI/AAAAAAAAEVo/lqMJpf8x-i4U8jhvu_VskctzgBmd_3NnACLcBGAs/s400/nagoya21.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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We do not see all of <b>Yoshiaki Fujiwara</b> and his student <b>Minoru Suzuki </b>though I believe the finish must have come shortly after Fujiwara has Suzuki in a butterfly/double underhook position (Western Lariat again: "Fujiwara more or less just decides that enough is enough and finishes
off Suzuki rather easily with a butterfly suplex into a chickenwing") when the tape shuts off.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-NKfitsdQ39M/XKE2dQfxIwI/AAAAAAAAEVs/EgLM_8Abz5YETTulukDY7MYH4mCnfdp3wCLcBGAs/s1600/nagoya22.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="409" data-original-width="564" height="290" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-NKfitsdQ39M/XKE2dQfxIwI/AAAAAAAAEVs/EgLM_8Abz5YETTulukDY7MYH4mCnfdp3wCLcBGAs/s400/nagoya22.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">MURDERDAD VI: I BORE YOU, I RAISE YOU, I TRAINED YOU<br />
AND NOW I WILL MURDER YOU</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Up to there we see a cool and basic match worked at 90% between these two old hands. Suzuki rushes Fujiwara with a dropkick at the bell. It glances off the old man's body, who continues circling around ring as if a fly had just breezed by.<br />
<br />
Suzuki tries to steal the upset by borrowing Fujiwara's moves (the cheeky shit tries to waki-gatame Fujiwara! He gets a slap for his troubles) and attitude but Fujiwara is Murder Dad for a reason. He invites Suzuki onto him, a classic Fujiwara move, like a spider setting out a lovely afternoon tea on its web for a passing fly. Flies rarely resist, and in this instance neither does Suzuki.<br />
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Suzuki nearly scores the upset when Fujiwara is knocked down with the dropkick when it lands in full. But the 9-count is not a near-win in reality; it is another Fujiwara move - playing possum. It's a masterclass in recontextualising sporting tropes for performance ends and makes you realise that Fujiwara might actually be the best in this company at this stage, for all of Takada's rugged poise, Funaki's athletic prowess, Yamazaki's all-around brilliance, and Maeda's pure Maedaoisity.<br />
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Not long after the 9-count is the end of the tape. We will write about the finish and the remaining two matches when they are uncovered.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-vACt9G3Hn-s/XKE2d6HIpmI/AAAAAAAAEVw/ZVxDQH0Z9ZQSH7wERf0uXKtaKREMLPPNACLcBGAs/s1600/nagoya23.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="417" data-original-width="576" height="288" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-vACt9G3Hn-s/XKE2d6HIpmI/AAAAAAAAEVw/ZVxDQH0Z9ZQSH7wERf0uXKtaKREMLPPNACLcBGAs/s400/nagoya23.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">THANK YOU FOR WATCHING BBC2<br />
GOODNIGHT</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<b>NEXT</b>: another fragment!</div>
D. Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14629124673589292567noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6812605115270563531.post-82099020732961601202018-07-05T09:04:00.001-07:002018-07-05T09:11:37.547-07:00UWF 13/08/1990 - CREATE (28/31)<b>UWF Create</b><br />
Yokohama Arena, Yokohama<br />
13th August 1990<br />
att. 17000<br />
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We lurch forward in time some four months and five shows to look in on a UWF in its death throes. What appears to be rude health, an array of diverse talents and stars wrestling in a pleasing way, and full houses (SUPER NO VACANCY FULL HOUSE no less) are in fact the beginnings of the factionalisation that leads to the creation of three brand new companies.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-DiGbbh7ZS0s/Wz33NEZXmZI/AAAAAAAAECg/GcRV1jS5f3snK6jRixB2-ZvlkpMX1SvzACLcBGAs/s1600/uwfcreate05.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="440" data-original-width="594" height="296" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-DiGbbh7ZS0s/Wz33NEZXmZI/AAAAAAAAECg/GcRV1jS5f3snK6jRixB2-ZvlkpMX1SvzACLcBGAs/s400/uwfcreate05.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">(Mon)</td></tr>
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While the previous two reviews - Force Korakuen 2 Days and Road - detailed UWF at its most basic and austerely-presented, Create is one of those opulent summer spectaculars where the lights dazzle, lasers fire, graphics are updated, and it all just feels like wrestling does <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Proms#Last_Night_of_the_Proms" target="_blank">Last Night of the Proms</a> only with less jingoism and better music.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">one of many great unheralded Dischord acts</td></tr>
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Instead of cool t-shirts for the event we see a number of wrestlers wearing shorts for the company INTERMEDIA POSTORDER which I guess is a cool pairing of words in a vaguely post-punkish way but is not the heights of glory attained by normal UWF attire.</div>
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The keyword and pre-parade sequence from the opening montage is
OPULENCE: fast cars, gold rims, complicated lighting, booming warm
chillwave synth. The lights start to flash more and the warm synth gives
way to a complex mismash of guitar widdling, synth stabs, and drones in
a way that I'd say perfectly embodies the Japanese wrestling entrance
aesthetic. There's a parade and it's brilliant and long. The entrance
way looks like someone has erected a blanket in a breeze and stuck a
light that randomly changes colours beneath it, causing the fighters to
change colour as they enter. Watch: </div>
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Make no mistake, this is high level stuff.<br />
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The advertised portion of the evening commences with two debutants: <b>Yusuke Fuke</b> (known to 90s MMA diehards as Takaku Fuke) and <b>Masahito Kakihara</b>. The two opponents would take different paths in the fragmented world of ring sports in the 1990s following the imminent collapse of UWF under so much ego-weight; Fuke would follow his trainer Yoshiaki Fujiwara into PWFG and then pursue the path of real fighting in Pancrase (racking up 3 defeats against Bas Rutten and 3 more against the Brothers Shamrock in a total record of 16-29 with 5 draws).</div>
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Kakihara followed his mentor Takada into UWF-i but refused to parlay this worked-shoot aura into a real fighting career (Kakihara lifetime MMA: 1-0, win vs. Rocky Romero) in Takada's PRIDE promotion. Kakihara fought for Takada's side project KINGDOM for the year it existed before making the leap to All Japan Pro Wrestling. Kakihara appears on the second night of the grand Pro Wrestling NOAH launch in 2000 (in brief: when 24 of 28 All Japan wrestlers seceded to form their own company) and then returns to All Japan immediately afterward. How strange.</div>
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Both men would come together again in the heady days of Inokism New Japan (which probably explains why Kakihara fights Rocky Romero) before again going their separate ways; Fuke fully embracing comedy in Osaka Pro and Kakihara sadly embracing tragedy with lymphatic cancer (which he has beaten).</div>
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What do we learn of Kakihara and Fuke here and now in the 15-minute draw that marks their first public performance of wrestlecraft? They're both similarly adept, intense, and earnest in going forward and taking the fight to their opponent. Fuke prefers to grapple and Kakihara throws strikes like he's trying to hit through a wall. But this is not to say that either man is bad at the other thing, and indeed Kakihara nearly chokes Fuke out at one point, while the best flurry sees Fuke nearly destroy Kakihara.<br />
<br />
As it's a 15-minute draw, essentially an exhibition, the story here is "we're both new here, please enjoy our exuberance and general array of skills" and as such its intensity is not enough to make it stretch beyond what it is - a good match - to anything more. But a very promising start for both.</div>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lRHDKx4AkJk/Wz4ktAaG8RI/AAAAAAAAEEs/gFf6KR3_foQCidD5Wz-euN7BqHErE7riQCLcBGAs/s1600/uwfcreate24.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="422" data-original-width="566" height="297" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lRHDKx4AkJk/Wz4ktAaG8RI/AAAAAAAAEEs/gFf6KR3_foQCidD5Wz-euN7BqHErE7riQCLcBGAs/s400/uwfcreate24.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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UWF are persevering with kenpoist <b>Bart Vale</b> and to that decision I warmly applaud. History has judged Vale unfairly, as has the caption-writer for his entrance:</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">in a decision between laughing and not, I will choose to</td></tr>
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Vale even wears those bicep bands that Ultimate Warrior favoured, with American stars on them. In embodying the visual of the Ugly American (who can beat your ass) it is only right for the structures of pro-wrestling that UWF book his opposite, the handsome local warrior <b>Tatsuo Nakano</b>.</div>
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-welCUxIdHbk/Wz3_GD7aGrI/AAAAAAAAED0/J6n3wMRUkIQh5b0aqVhEnh5g0kI6sGIyQCEwYBhgL/s1600/uwfcreate13.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="429" data-original-width="538" height="318" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-welCUxIdHbk/Wz3_GD7aGrI/AAAAAAAAED0/J6n3wMRUkIQh5b0aqVhEnh5g0kI6sGIyQCEwYBhgL/s400/uwfcreate13.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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For the early portion of this Vale, taller by a long way, keeps Nakano at range with hard lunging kicks that Nakano keeps failing to catch. Eventually this drive Nakano mad, driving Vale to the floor and just headbutting him mercilessly as the crowd scream blue murder.<br />
<br />
Vale, who sometimes appears a bit powder-puff in his striking despite his enormity and martial arts prowess, isn't messing around tonight. His kicks all register, flying in from sharp angles to sensitive areas. Nakano can't go strike for strike like he wants to, so his only game is to crash into Vale and try and outwork him. </div>
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Eventually Nakano does get some play:</div>
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-jThSLN6UfnI/Wz4nmdIrn1I/AAAAAAAAEE4/XSKXZIrUFwMFgYn5JjmRxX-WfdP1USFXACLcBGAs/s1600/uwfcreate26.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="408" data-original-width="577" height="282" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-jThSLN6UfnI/Wz4nmdIrn1I/AAAAAAAAEE4/XSKXZIrUFwMFgYn5JjmRxX-WfdP1USFXACLcBGAs/s400/uwfcreate26.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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There's a bizarre spot where Nakano tries to dragon screw Vale, whose counter is to do a leaping kick to thin air and land on his seat. Novel.</div>
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This is actually a pretty great little match. Nakano only knows intensity and Vale matches it. Both come out at the end looking like they've been in a real battle of attrition. Some will say the ending is a little pro-wrestling, but I'll leave you to decide:</div>
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-NqGGI-KaPc4/Wz4pWkF-2EI/AAAAAAAAEFM/FqlgNrvKYgwnnt-i0_CYxgDBMxtbKG7ygCLcBGAs/s1600/uwfcreate28.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="418" data-original-width="588" height="282" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-NqGGI-KaPc4/Wz4pWkF-2EI/AAAAAAAAEFM/FqlgNrvKYgwnnt-i0_CYxgDBMxtbKG7ygCLcBGAs/s400/uwfcreate28.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-2C2FBkgcsrM/Wz4pWtX_D3I/AAAAAAAAEFQ/FO9DWiws8fABV2IJ1uzEqm1F15TYj90zQCLcBGAs/s1600/uwfcreate29.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="423" data-original-width="580" height="291" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-2C2FBkgcsrM/Wz4pWtX_D3I/AAAAAAAAEFQ/FO9DWiws8fABV2IJ1uzEqm1F15TYj90zQCLcBGAs/s400/uwfcreate29.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9rlCsyYnH_g/Wz4pWhFNxkI/AAAAAAAAEFU/qfcE7H8mtLM6v0BNBEHudFGo2vtUSj25wCLcBGAs/s1600/uwfcreate30.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="404" data-original-width="569" height="282" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9rlCsyYnH_g/Wz4pWhFNxkI/AAAAAAAAEFU/qfcE7H8mtLM6v0BNBEHudFGo2vtUSj25wCLcBGAs/s400/uwfcreate30.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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I think I like it! He follows that in with a neat rear choke and that's your lot, Bart Vale wins!<br />
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-JFpvFEJWV5k/Wz3_GDpvQ8I/AAAAAAAAEDw/g3NhotWLu-kmo-LUn50-k-LEEdsmKwNOgCEwYBhgL/s1600/uwfcreate14.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="430" data-original-width="585" height="293" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-JFpvFEJWV5k/Wz3_GDpvQ8I/AAAAAAAAEDw/g3NhotWLu-kmo-LUn50-k-LEEdsmKwNOgCEwYBhgL/s400/uwfcreate14.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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While I provided you with a career biography for debutants Fuke and Kakihara, I can do no such thing for <b>Bart Kopps Jr.</b>. Pop his name into a reputable search engine and all that comes up are references to this match in UWF <i>and nothing else at all. </i>No history and no future. An avatar, created for the express purpose of representing a psychic canvas onto which one can project "western wrestling power."</div>
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Or could it be that it's written on all of these tape trading websites as Bart Kopps Jr. when his real name is...</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-BS05I85J2rI/Wz3sxsnSz6I/AAAAAAAAECA/0w47CDtmp5cukTak6VIffm_8xO9qvIMzQCLcBGAs/s1600/uwfcreate01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="396" data-original-width="524" height="301" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-BS05I85J2rI/Wz3sxsnSz6I/AAAAAAAAECA/0w47CDtmp5cukTak6VIffm_8xO9qvIMzQCLcBGAs/s400/uwfcreate01.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">tape traders of the world, unite nomenclature</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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...which Google is much easier on. Enjoy <a href="http://www.vechtsportinfo.nl/hall-of-fame/hall-fame-bert-kops/" target="_blank">this bad translation of Kops Jr's history</a>:<br />
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<i><span class="" id="result_box" lang="en"><span title="Bert Kops een van de grondleggers van de worstelsport in Nederland
">Bert Kops one of the founders of wrestling sport in the Netherlands</span></span></i><br />
<i><span class="" id="result_box" lang="en"><span title="Bert Kops een van de grondleggers van de worstelsport in Nederland
"><br /></span><span title="Decennia-lang heerste Bert Kops in de worstelarena’s en met rond de 3o titels is hij een van Nederlands grootste worstelaars te noemen.">For
decades Bert Kops was in the wrestling arenas and with around the 3o
titles he is one of the greatest wrestlers in the Netherlands. </span><span title="In het verleden trainde hij onder andere met Anton Geesink, Chris Dolman, Jan van de Paverd, John Bluming en Wim Ruska."> </span></span></i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i><span class="" id="result_box" lang="en"><span title="In het verleden trainde hij onder andere met Anton Geesink, Chris Dolman, Jan van de Paverd, John Bluming en Wim Ruska.">In the past he trained with Anton Geesink, Chris Dolman, Jan van de Paverd, John Bluming and Wim Ruska. </span><span title="Allemaal grote namen en pioniers van de vechtsporten binnen Nederland.
">All big names and pioneers of martial arts in the Netherlands.</span></span></i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i><span class="" id="result_box" lang="en"><span title="Allemaal grote namen en pioniers van de vechtsporten binnen Nederland.
"><span class="" id="result_box" lang="en"><span title="Heden ten dage traint Bert Kops kampioenen en aspiranten die groot willen worden in het MMA.">Today Bert Kops trains champions and aspirants who want to become big in MMA. </span><span title="Zoals MMA vechter Gegard Mousasi de wereldberoemde MMA-vechter die recentelijk van de UFC is overgestapt naar Bellator.">Like MMA fighter Gegard Mousasi the world famous MMA fighter who recently switched from the UFC to Bellator. </span><span title="Maar traint ook vechters voor de World Police and Fireman games, waar brandweermannen en politie agenten vanuit de hele wereld tegen over elkaar op de mat staan.
">But also trains fighters for the World Police and Fireman games, where
fire fighters and police officers from all over the world face each
other.</span><span title="Inspirator en voorbeeld
"> </span></span></span></span></i><span class="" id="result_box" lang="en"><span title="Allemaal grote namen en pioniers van de vechtsporten binnen Nederland.
"><i><span class="" id="result_box" lang="en"><span title="Inspirator en voorbeeld
">Inspirator and example.</span></span></i> </span></span></blockquote>
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And unlike people like Bart Vale and Johnny Barrett and Wellington Wilkins Jr., Kops is low-key around in this world to this day. He even looks pretty good, here with Gegard Mousasi and pals:<br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wX0FLYcwoQM/Wz3urm38kVI/AAAAAAAAECM/8pNBTXfIj74tMZ3Ril1YAQdMgfRwziDPQCLcBGAs/s1600/uwfcreate02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="393" data-original-width="531" height="295" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wX0FLYcwoQM/Wz3urm38kVI/AAAAAAAAECM/8pNBTXfIj74tMZ3Ril1YAQdMgfRwziDPQCLcBGAs/s400/uwfcreate02.jpg" width="400" /> </a></div>
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Armed with the correct spelling I can also now see that he was a solid hand in the early running of RINGS. <a href="https://tkscissors.blogspot.com/2016/11/rings-91491-astral-step-3rd-kamui.html" target="_blank">TK Scissors appraises him</a> (yes digressions are infinite, in a way every sentence is a digression from that first most profound sentence) thus:</div>
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<div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">As is Kops, who hits the biggest yet of the several <i>ura-nage</i>s which have thus far been visited upon us! My goodness, the arching! Then Peeters hits him way too hard again! But another <i>ura-nage</i> from Kops! These are <i>ura-nage</i> nearly worthy of </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Galbadrakh
Otgontsetseg herself, great Mongolian-turned-Kazakh of the women's 48kg
division of international judo, bronze medalist at the Rio games of the
XXXI Olympiad (enjoy several of her <i>ura nage</i>, and the <i>ura nage</i> of others as well, <a href="http://letsplayjudo.tumblr.com/search/ura+nage" target="_blank">here</a>).
Oh man he did it again! This time with Peeters all sprawling forward
and trying to get away! But in between these instances, it is important
to note that Peeters is hitting Kops super hard, such that he has
already been knocked down twice. </span></div>
</blockquote>
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Kops Jr's opponent: Minoru Suzuki. We know of him already.</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">he rushed out and ruined his caption</td></tr>
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Kops/Kopps (I will go with Kops) has the wrestling chops down as one might expect from someone who went to the 1972 Olympics (but refused to compete after the attack on the Israeli athletes) but what I am immediately responding to is steely competitive manner etched in his gaze. He's inscrutable in that way one must be inscrutable in wrestling (scrutable). <br />
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Suzuki is using the full range of the allowed attacks of the ruleset while Kops is remaining pure to his martial art, looking to secure Suzuki's upper half and shift hips to transfer weight from the vertical to horizontal. And yeah he is just doing good in there, throwing Suzuki nicely in a way that registers to the waza purists and the fans who just like to see a good old-fashioned hurling.<br />
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Qx8X_3GBoVY/Wz4tTTa86rI/AAAAAAAAEFo/vgi0nwlugQouNIPpKMN1XizQoKk2PtRjwCLcBGAs/s1600/uwfcreate32.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="399" data-original-width="582" height="273" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Qx8X_3GBoVY/Wz4tTTa86rI/AAAAAAAAEFo/vgi0nwlugQouNIPpKMN1XizQoKk2PtRjwCLcBGAs/s400/uwfcreate32.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Suzuki slaps Kops' nose to the point of bleeding but still the Dutchman remains pure of heart and wrestling, save for a moment where he is riding Suzuki in a submission where a few open hands might pick the lock. Suzuki goes on the defensive but Kops gets to demonstrate his ability in overturning prone opponents, gutwrenching Suzuki back into a more favourable position.<br />
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But as I said, Kops is just good at the selling part of this too:<br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-b9J3Z-rXM84/Wz4tTW5iqOI/AAAAAAAAEFs/CgszK0yBZJElCY9IAtnelaSt5LWTeY85wCEwYBhgL/s1600/uwfcreate31.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="444" data-original-width="561" height="316" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-b9J3Z-rXM84/Wz4tTW5iqOI/AAAAAAAAEFs/CgszK0yBZJElCY9IAtnelaSt5LWTeY85wCEwYBhgL/s400/uwfcreate31.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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The ending comes more-or-less out of nowhere. After Kops escapes the above crab, he suplexes Suzuki over and armbars him. Suzuki over-rotates for the rope and makes his predicament worse, tapping immediately and punching the canvas in frustration at his mistake. Fun stuff! That's the last we'll see of Kops Jr. here. Enjoy your oversized trophy.<br />
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1990 is a strange year for <b>Akira Maeda</b>. He spends most of the year in the upper mid-card, still mostly winning of course. There are 12 events in 1990 (this is spoiler territory but we care more about art than the results of matches some 28 years old now) and Maeda headlines just four of them, winning three. Compare this to Fujiwara (5), Takada (6), Funaki (4 - all of the final four shows), Yamazaki (2), a foreign invader (2), or the fact that Maeda headlined 8 of the 12 shows he appeared on in 1989 and won every single bout he fought.<br />
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The attendances don't seem to have suffered for his demotion and yet he drew the first Tokyo Dome sellout at the very end of 1989. A similar show for 1990 was booked, the Tokyo Dome date put on hold, and then cancelled as the company folded. Could Maeda bear to see it without him on its marquee?<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">thinking of writing a script to do this later</td></tr>
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Not that this bothers the carefree <b>Yoji Anjo</b> as he makes his way to the ring for a surefire pasting.<br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-AP0ntWFvx_s/Wz3_HhrflVI/AAAAAAAAEDo/jw6miDcU2-4DkuH4Byy1GK5MI9o1CJHCACEwYBhgL/s1600/uwfcreate16.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="426" data-original-width="570" height="298" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-AP0ntWFvx_s/Wz3_HhrflVI/AAAAAAAAEDo/jw6miDcU2-4DkuH4Byy1GK5MI9o1CJHCACEwYBhgL/s400/uwfcreate16.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Anjo has switched from his purple leopardprint to purple trousers with a single large yellow diamond on each leg. I think this is an improvement. I guess while we're on aesthetics then I have to say Maeda is looking a bit gordo around the middle, a journey which would continue through RINGS in a manner charted by TK Scissors PLEASE READ THIS BLOG.</div>
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Maeda and Anjo have only met once before in UWF and that was on a show as-yet unreviewed, which explains the relatively fresh feel about this pairing. Anjo is the perfect fodder for Maeda because he won't back down or back off even when grossly overmatched. Also the fact they famously did not like each other in real life makes it tempting to read into this situation as the origin story for this:</div>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UkKmWE-WUpY/Wz4wtkaoUOI/AAAAAAAAEGA/bUwHC2fcdnM-oCe-cjfEnAkHMV0e9Ft2wCLcBGAs/s1600/anjopunch2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="240" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UkKmWE-WUpY/Wz4wtkaoUOI/AAAAAAAAEGA/bUwHC2fcdnM-oCe-cjfEnAkHMV0e9Ft2wCLcBGAs/s400/anjopunch2.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-7arxwNGOv2w/Wz4wtgbBa0I/AAAAAAAAEF8/wOq-_ypgyiMNdgNm3xv8V8f5Z5jvq2y2QCLcBGAs/s1600/anjopunch.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="240" data-original-width="400" height="240" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-7arxwNGOv2w/Wz4wtgbBa0I/AAAAAAAAEF8/wOq-_ypgyiMNdgNm3xv8V8f5Z5jvq2y2QCLcBGAs/s400/anjopunch.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">thank you to @DenimAssemblage for this post-punch image</td></tr>
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Okay so that happened because of the break-up of UWF, where the two would badmouth each other in the press, but we can have a bit of fun with this.</div>
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For much of this it is not the brutalisings that were afforded to Tamura, Miyato, and Nakano. Anjo gets a measure of respect. For the most part Maeda is not the one carrying the intensity with his stinging kicks and hard suplexes. For a solid two minutes in the middle he does nothing but put up his dukes and allow Anjo to do all the work for him. When Anjo eventually scores a potentially winning predicament, the crowd roaring, Maeda appears to be smiling rather than selling. He gets up nonchalantly as if nothing had happened. Which makes Anjo really mad.</div>
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-KHOqVwuYEvI/Wz4yhmfYvNI/AAAAAAAAEGQ/UMGgxZInYwc5AwQFTcp6bciNpaj3zBrNQCLcBGAs/s1600/uwfcreate34.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="409" data-original-width="569" height="287" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-KHOqVwuYEvI/Wz4yhmfYvNI/AAAAAAAAEGQ/UMGgxZInYwc5AwQFTcp6bciNpaj3zBrNQCLcBGAs/s400/uwfcreate34.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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UWF's version of a false finish - Maeda catches a kick, hits a Capture Suplex and goes straight into the Cross Kneelock. But Anjo does not fall victim to this ruiner of men and makes the ropes despite most fans exhaling in full expectancy of the end. Maeda then hits a German Suplex after some pedestrian grappling and another submission sees Anjo find the ropes.</div>
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Anjo stands, throws a kick, Maeda catches it, and folds Anjo over into the Reverse Achilles Tendon Lock for the win.</div>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ycblHF7WLA8/Wz41VDLW8oI/AAAAAAAAEGc/0932TcAWGyEFYEirqlSXU1Qc-haastrdwCLcBGAs/s1600/uwfcreate35.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="420" data-original-width="549" height="305" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ycblHF7WLA8/Wz41VDLW8oI/AAAAAAAAEGc/0932TcAWGyEFYEirqlSXU1Qc-haastrdwCLcBGAs/s400/uwfcreate35.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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An okay match considering one person wasn't really interested in it until the very end. <br />
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A Tokyo Dome rematch takes place in the semi-final as <b>Dirk Leon Vrij </b>returns from Chris Dolman's House of Dutch Hardknocks to face gentleman grump and limbtwister general <b>Yoshiaki Fujiwara</b>. Their first match was not bad, if a little tentative, as well as being aesthetically weird as Fujiwara wore some Muay Thai shorts that made him look like a dad lost at the beach. </div>
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Vrij remains frightening to behold:</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-4TIM3Xocsuo/Wz33ONONqtI/AAAAAAAAEC4/wH81ze23ucg8D7x94-G8ng9ucJaqlJSmwCEwYBhgL/s1600/uwfcreate07.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="426" data-original-width="571" height="297" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-4TIM3Xocsuo/Wz33ONONqtI/AAAAAAAAEC4/wH81ze23ucg8D7x94-G8ng9ucJaqlJSmwCEwYBhgL/s400/uwfcreate07.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">also known as: Dick Vrij, Dirk Fry, Dick Leon Fly</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br />
Whilst the visage of Fujiwara will always signify some kind of ruin:</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9G8GVmSpBDQ/Wz33N6Gku3I/AAAAAAAAEC8/pB4a4s7WF8Ms0Y4p0vnHVDgOu0u98ksdgCEwYBhgL/s1600/uwfcreate06.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="415" data-original-width="585" height="283" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9G8GVmSpBDQ/Wz33N6Gku3I/AAAAAAAAEC8/pB4a4s7WF8Ms0Y4p0vnHVDgOu0u98ksdgCEwYBhgL/s400/uwfcreate06.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I WANT YOUR SOUL</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
I read a few disconcerting critiques of Yoshiaki Fujiwara in UWF recently:</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<ul style="text-align: justify;">
<li>"Fujiwara is too limited
for this."</li>
<li>"Fujiwara just isn't on the level of Takada, Yamazaki,
or Maeda as a worker."</li>
<li>"Vrij is only worth watching
when he's knocking the hell out of an opponent that is both skilled and willing
to take a big beating. Fujiwara is neither."</li>
</ul>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Now, these are just the opinions of one person - <a href="http://www.quebrada.net/videos/UWF2.html" target="_blank">Quebrada</a> - and all art is subjective. But also this is demonstrably wrong. </div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
In the first 30 seconds of this second encounter there is more intensity than their tentative first battle. Vrij's kicks are mean but that doesn't stop Fujiwara from grinding his fist into Vrij's ribs to open his guard up. Vrij is in control and looking dangerous standing up or on the ground, wrenching Fujiwara by his waist and punching him by the ropes. Vrij catches Fujiwara's kicks and knocks him down and taunts in his face. He breaks a strangle by tapping Fujiwara on the head patronisingly. Real techniques and real emotions.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ojBO75JTSNg/Wz45i_Dlv6I/AAAAAAAAEGs/07TtcaIjKzcHwBGAPIA9ctD0gFHVMAH9QCEwYBhgL/s1600/uwfcreate37.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="420" data-original-width="571" height="293" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ojBO75JTSNg/Wz45i_Dlv6I/AAAAAAAAEGs/07TtcaIjKzcHwBGAPIA9ctD0gFHVMAH9QCEwYBhgL/s400/uwfcreate37.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Fujiwara opts to fight in the clinch, tussling against the ropes and refusing to break so he can go inside and do all kinds of sly rudenesses. Vrij tries to shrug the old man off with knees, but Fujiwara is a limpet in there, quietly revelling in the battle. He returns the patronising tap by slapping Vrij's cheeks. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-oBUuxGQCSnc/Wz45i-frpxI/AAAAAAAAEG8/h3hYtfwDrikNgOAo2HjK9RBQmIZyYqgFwCEwYBhgL/s1600/uwfcreate38.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="412" data-original-width="570" height="288" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-oBUuxGQCSnc/Wz45i-frpxI/AAAAAAAAEG8/h3hYtfwDrikNgOAo2HjK9RBQmIZyYqgFwCEwYBhgL/s400/uwfcreate38.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Vrij's sense of humour is not as keen. He rushes Fujiwara with laser-guided kicks but the sequence breaks down when Vrij goes for a weird/rubbish gutwrench rollthrough that doesn't look good at all. His anger leads to his downfall, rushing a strike that Fujiwara catches and forces into the Fujiwara Armbar. Vrij thinks he has it scouted and manages to flip onto his back on the ground. Fujiwara never lets go and Vrij taps quickly. A good match.</div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Fujiwara insists that Vrij has the trophy:</div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6afuqDBhTws/Wz45i-s0sqI/AAAAAAAAEGo/i3aKsNvF5pYJcWXBkF50rUGR7c-ROPP0ACEwYBhgL/s1600/uwfcreate36.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="424" data-original-width="554" height="305" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6afuqDBhTws/Wz45i-s0sqI/AAAAAAAAEGo/i3aKsNvF5pYJcWXBkF50rUGR7c-ROPP0ACEwYBhgL/s400/uwfcreate36.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Main eventing the sold out Yokohama Arena is a match that last took place precisely one year ago to the day in the very same building: <b>Nobuhiko Takada</b> against <b>Masakatsu Funaki</b>. That 1989 bout was bananas, one of UWF's very best bouts. Though it was clearly more on the pro-wrestling end of the work-shoot spectrum, it did a perfect job of establishing these two ruggedly-handsome beefcakes as the powerful and resilient characters they'd pretend to be for the rest of their active careers.</div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-TbdxRthz_as/Wz33ORG4aHI/AAAAAAAAECs/zWLxKfA0C_cz8ueyZ2Z-Juth8DZNZ-OqwCEwYBhgL/s1600/uwfcreate08.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="414" data-original-width="587" height="281" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-TbdxRthz_as/Wz33ORG4aHI/AAAAAAAAECs/zWLxKfA0C_cz8ueyZ2Z-Juth8DZNZ-OqwCEwYBhgL/s400/uwfcreate08.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">BASICdelia</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
That first match is recapped, fully capturing its mad spirit, zeroing in on its first thirty seconds where Funaki rips through Takada's soul with a palm thrust and high knees him to the head for a knockdown. It begs the question: can Funaki follow through this time with a win?</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PkOIwf6DWUM/Wz33OrzPYnI/AAAAAAAAEDA/w1mIWlpCwocCD9u7DoYJGkoe-3zRyfGKwCEwYBhgL/s1600/uwfcreate09.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="411" data-original-width="580" height="282" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PkOIwf6DWUM/Wz33OrzPYnI/AAAAAAAAEDA/w1mIWlpCwocCD9u7DoYJGkoe-3zRyfGKwCEwYBhgL/s400/uwfcreate09.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I cannot say enough good things about this presentation</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br />
The opening isn't the wild battery of the first, though the kicks both throw are no joke. It's unmistakeably the storytelling of pro-wrestling, the tale of two evenly-matched men jockeying for a shot at ultimate supremity (Maeda). The crowd are batty at everything, whether they're throwing kicks or rolling around on the ground showing sub-optimal intent. The whole thing smacks of atmosphere (<a href="https://twitter.com/dril/status/213849618415484929" target="_blank">I say, turning the barbeque over, turning the 4th of July into the 4th of Shit</a>).<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-YyD0DobKojU/Wz5A05T3pII/AAAAAAAAEHQ/pffalxmP7PEAdFBvL-e_zodGCslBNPCEACLcBGAs/s1600/uwfcreate44.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="579" height="276" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-YyD0DobKojU/Wz5A05T3pII/AAAAAAAAEHQ/pffalxmP7PEAdFBvL-e_zodGCslBNPCEACLcBGAs/s400/uwfcreate44.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
The crowd is split down the middle. In a quiet grapple you can hear both names yelled at top note from multiple regions of the crowd, with more females in favour of Funaki and more men for Takada. <br />
<br />
Funaki scores the first knockdown after minutes of pointed grappling, bringing the crowd slowly into their zone. Takada doesn't do as he did in the first match and stagger around looking beaten, taking knockdown after knockdown - instead he roars back with violence. The match goes wild, threatening to surpass the first bout as the two set upon each other with total abandon.<br />
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KXp31Krc6XM/Wz4_5qdTKXI/AAAAAAAAEHE/zFB6Jp3daPspxjddOyV1lCAnRGr_tXq3ACLcBGAs/s1600/uwfcreate40.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="408" data-original-width="579" height="281" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KXp31Krc6XM/Wz4_5qdTKXI/AAAAAAAAEHE/zFB6Jp3daPspxjddOyV1lCAnRGr_tXq3ACLcBGAs/s400/uwfcreate40.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">OOOOF</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
But the finish comes all too soon. The referee calls it as Takada's eyeline bursts open. Funaki wins but this is not the ending foreseen after all that hype and a one year build. Takada is lying on the floor being swabbed and stitched as Funaki struts, his face welted quite badly too.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-TyQzAAwnfgE/Wz5A06zgd7I/AAAAAAAAEHM/t105ByICZE4J2n_WYe6F1bLxUIKCV1RcQCEwYBhgL/s1600/uwfcreate43.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="388" data-original-width="552" height="280" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-TyQzAAwnfgE/Wz5A06zgd7I/AAAAAAAAEHM/t105ByICZE4J2n_WYe6F1bLxUIKCV1RcQCEwYBhgL/s400/uwfcreate43.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">kind of looks like the rocket launcher at the end of Resident Evil</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Despite how it happens, we're now in the Masakatsu Funaki era. Enjoy yourself!<br />
<br />
<b>NEXT</b>: dunno.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</div>
D. Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14629124673589292567noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6812605115270563531.post-52464809138419264362018-07-04T13:01:00.000-07:002018-07-04T13:12:55.307-07:00UWF 27/02/1990 - ROAD (22/31)<b>UWF Road</b><br />
Sports Centre, Minamiashigara<br />
27th February 1990<br />
att. 4500<br />
<br />
There is not much time, we must press forward.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-EqbzFtYTcZk/Wzt5SSxe2EI/AAAAAAAAD_Y/3Fb-BbyQ-sAyxePhpmuLd5oRo_oZDZeZwCLcBGAs/s1600/uwfroad03.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="555" height="215" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-EqbzFtYTcZk/Wzt5SSxe2EI/AAAAAAAAD_Y/3Fb-BbyQ-sAyxePhpmuLd5oRo_oZDZeZwCLcBGAs/s400/uwfroad03.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
A training montage opens ROAD and the sound cuts out so we can only see the pure visuals of things like Yoji Anjo hopping up and down on the spot and people exchanging money for the expensive-looking programmes for this particular entry, the 22nd, into the annals of shoot-style lore's wider chapter on UWF.</div>
<a name='more'></a><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Uh actually a sidebar is it just me or are there a few more shoot-style appreciative twitter accounts these days? Not that I have one (I like all the fruits of the cultural, er, tree, particularly TOM's excellent poem about answering the door naked, anticipating the best, which is some proper ee cummings level shit) but I am heartened by all that do.<br />
<br />
I digress. Here we go. Look, here's Yoshiaki Fujiwara making meticulous preparations and Kazuo Yamazaki getting mobbed by a sea of arms and the sound returns which indicates someone is cleverly aware that Maeda's goons are wise to people uploading this stuff and are attempting to bypass their cop techniques.<br />
<br />
After the montage, a brief shot of the exterior of the building and the first flowering of the spring blossom, but not the customary segue to a parade of fighters (if WWE Raw opened with a parade of fighters, maybe, just maybe I would watch it, given that it at least demonstrated some kind of aesthetic value at the outset) but a small suited man in wire-framed spectacles. </div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-3atKGCv1SdM/Wzt4nadXC0I/AAAAAAAAD_Q/OaB1saAUsc0LVoJmWemuDdIanFLY1BjrQCLcBGAs/s1600/uwfroad02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="438" data-original-width="537" height="326" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-3atKGCv1SdM/Wzt4nadXC0I/AAAAAAAAD_Q/OaB1saAUsc0LVoJmWemuDdIanFLY1BjrQCLcBGAs/s400/uwfroad02.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The man speaks with restraint about things that I have no idea. He appears to be some kind of front office flunky, but he does not appear to be selling a product or a future event. Rather, he seems grave, and given the amount of time afforded to him, it seems reasonably important. <br />
<br />
A dissolve and then TRIUMPHANT PARPING and yes yes yes it is <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZ9Dc-uL3kI">that UWF theme that everyone loves.</a> Here they come sprinting to the ring! Kiyoshi Tamura is here and decidedly NOT DEAD from his thorough Maedaing some months ago, though I regret to inform all six of my readers that the crimson-trunked prince will not be appearing in any combat capacity this evening. <br />
<br />
Neither will we see action from the lemon-trousered warrior Masakatsu Funaki, who is still crocked from an injury suffered mid-1989, though he is also made to dutifully stand mid-ring and enjoy the extended vamping that occurs about 2 minutes into the UWF theme. The parade indicates no foreigners and no new faces: just the original shoot-style six (Nakano, Miyato, Anjo, Yamazaki, Takada, Maeda) and two of the later joinees (Fujiwara and Suzuki). In what order will they be paired for our delectation? <br />
<br />
Before we find out, Akira Maeda takes the mic. It's not quite the stirring battle speech these events typically call for. Yoshiaki Fujiwara looks genuinely upset behind him and the feeling is slowly accumulated that this show has an air of disquiet about it.</div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ZPgLMlwQAbo/Wzt2zaOZPyI/AAAAAAAAD_E/6G-JmD84rMoULqr5a2F4pDRrk6wHlcpFgCLcBGAs/s1600/uwfroad01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="415" data-original-width="579" height="286" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ZPgLMlwQAbo/Wzt2zaOZPyI/AAAAAAAAD_E/6G-JmD84rMoULqr5a2F4pDRrk6wHlcpFgCLcBGAs/s400/uwfroad01.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">it hurts to see it</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
AAAAAAAAND here we go it transpires that the bloke in the glasses and Maeda have made long speeches as this show begins with a ten bell salute and tribute to a dead young man who appears on a portrait held by a family member in the front row. Not sure who it is. </div>
<br />
<a href="http://segundacaida.blogspot.com/2008/10/uwf-22790.html">Segunda Caida have an idea though and man this speaks of darkness:</a> <br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>He forgot to mention that Fujiwara grabs and hugs the picture of some kid (I assume some trainee who died in the UWF dojo) on the way out.</i></blockquote>
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
So that explains why Fujiwara is upset. And that's why Tamura is there: "we don't kill them all, honest." Someone get on the phone to Tsunehito Naito.</div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-6nhj41g-Twc/Wzt51DhD1bI/AAAAAAAAD_g/rJ9R7MC7s4sa-5D_xc_Q87s-T4JmciJjACLcBGAs/s1600/uwfroad04.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="432" data-original-width="470" height="367" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-6nhj41g-Twc/Wzt51DhD1bI/AAAAAAAAD_g/rJ9R7MC7s4sa-5D_xc_Q87s-T4JmciJjACLcBGAs/s400/uwfroad04.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
After this unexpected mortality-considering turn, we begin to wrestle.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
First up is <b>Tatsuo Nakano</b> and <b>Minoru Suzuki</b>, who faced off at <a href="https://kicksubmissionsuplex.blogspot.com/2017/09/uwf-13081989-midsummer-creation-1431.html">Midsummer Creation</a> in the summer of 1989. Nakano won that fight, 7.35 of mayhem, continuing the rebirth of Nakano not as some guru of grappling but as a thuggish striker who walks through one punch to give you two.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Suzuki's whole 'thing' in 1990 is not quite as fleshed out as magnificently as it is in 2018: a coffee-drinking, sock-wearing, shop-owning age-defier who will laugh in your face before squeezing it off. But he's handsome and a Fujiwara trainee. And that sort of speaks loudly enough right now, in this world of low-key valour triumphing over vulgar shouting, to have survived the stretches of Murder Dad and to emerge smiling.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-n9dFuc325-A/Wz0iQPkG8-I/AAAAAAAAEAE/KwNa8inTIH4dDFSvgQJ_Q0AvhyAInTCjgCLcBGAs/s1600/uwfroad05.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="414" data-original-width="442" height="373" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-n9dFuc325-A/Wz0iQPkG8-I/AAAAAAAAEAE/KwNa8inTIH4dDFSvgQJ_Q0AvhyAInTCjgCLcBGAs/s400/uwfroad05.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Minoru Suzuki</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
What I mean with this Suzuki's thing not quite being down might actually just be my misinterpretation. He looks for all the world like a handsome young chap who the crowd respond warmly to, but he does heelish things that come naturally. Like here, before the bell rings. He takes his headband off and just throws it at Nakano, perhaps critiquing his moustache. Unfairly, in my book.</div>
</div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Suzuki wins an opening exchange of grapples and rides Nakano, slapping the back of his head. Weirdly the two seem to have reversed positions as workers: Thug Life Nakano is trying to do careful technical minatures while Catch Wrestling Scholar Suzuki throws slaps and knees and shit-talks whilst in a slightly bad position on the ground. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-YbuDNvMwIl4/Wz0iQK0_eZI/AAAAAAAAEAg/vzxeMYXmcmUFFMNA2nkNX-ROt5pELcGvQCEwYBhgL/s1600/uwfroad06.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="397" data-original-width="408" height="388" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-YbuDNvMwIl4/Wz0iQK0_eZI/AAAAAAAAEAg/vzxeMYXmcmUFFMNA2nkNX-ROt5pELcGvQCEwYBhgL/s400/uwfroad06.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tatsuo Nakano</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
It is a strange decision for Nakano, given the amount of fire in his belly and how well the crowd responded to his great matches through the late part of 1989, to try and work like the Graeme Dott of shoot-style. But time and again he does it, slowing the pace right down, manacling Suzuki's upper half on the mat. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-t0d-Sb0c7hs/Wz0iQ8bAzuI/AAAAAAAAEAg/0708pa5j-P4yKr6HOb6RQ1Wv7BlaJpD9ACEwYBhgL/s1600/uwfroad09.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="391" data-original-width="603" height="258" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-t0d-Sb0c7hs/Wz0iQ8bAzuI/AAAAAAAAEAg/0708pa5j-P4yKr6HOb6RQ1Wv7BlaJpD9ACEwYBhgL/s400/uwfroad09.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
I think to make the submission part of shoot-style wrestling compelling you either have to have the techniques down to an astonishing degree of proficiency or be good at the gesturality of the enterprise. Suzuki has both, whereas Nakano doesn't quite have either. What I really respond to in Nakano's strike battles is the way that it feels undeniably real, inasmuch as it probably is. No selling required. He's often getting beaten up for real.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Suzuki starts to dominate on the ground as much as you'd expect and even on standing, Suzuki muscles Nakano over in an ogoshi. Nakano wriggles through and again stops the match dead in a chinlock and a side headlock, Suzuki battling away, slapping and stamping Nakano, and hitting a jumping knee that sees Nakano go wild with abandon and start finally throwing the kicks we all paid to see (I did not pay). Suzuki takes an 8 count and then brief uncounted powder as Nakano steams in before the referee is ready to let them go at it.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-eY7GkDGtqbo/Wz0ifJL6XyI/AAAAAAAAEAk/2jEVH28ZiwUw2Fh-wELaO-HYKoctzejbgCEwYBhgL/s1600/uwfroad07.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="408" data-original-width="588" height="277" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-eY7GkDGtqbo/Wz0ifJL6XyI/AAAAAAAAEAk/2jEVH28ZiwUw2Fh-wELaO-HYKoctzejbgCEwYBhgL/s400/uwfroad07.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">u fuckin wot?</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
On resumption Nakano organically finds himself trapped between a standing Suzuki's groin, so Suzuki heaves him up and destroys him with a rough-looking piledriver that keeps Nakano down for a 9 count. Stomach-churning knees from Suzuki keep Nakano wobbled and then the ending - Suzuki throws a big dropkick on Nakano. When Suzuki stands up, Nakano uses the last of his might to hit a big flailing slap. Both go down for the count and neither make it up for a slightly dubious Double KO. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Not as good as their first one, but solid enough. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zD691NdLn9I/Wz0iQs1bFAI/AAAAAAAAEAc/TdYhzulp2OITrNSisvyV3XT0n5RP2P7iACEwYBhgL/s1600/uwfroad08.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="342" data-original-width="620" height="220" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zD691NdLn9I/Wz0iQs1bFAI/AAAAAAAAEAc/TdYhzulp2OITrNSisvyV3XT0n5RP2P7iACEwYBhgL/s400/uwfroad08.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">paging @CosmeTura</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
The match between <b>Yoji Anjo</b> and <b>Shigeo Miyato</b> is the fourth in UWF and I suppose at this juncture it might help recap how those bouts went:<br />
<ul style="text-align: justify;">
<li>Miyato wins at Fighting Network Hakata in September 1988, scoring the first knockout win in UWF, in a decent match.</li>
<li>A grinding 30 minute draw at Budokan for the Dynamism show that opened 1989.</li>
<li>One month later at Fighting Base Tokushima, Anjo wins in a largely dreary affair because of long periods of unenlivening Miyato control.</li>
</ul>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
And that's it. Other wrestlers have been introduced either permanently or fleetingly and as such this rivalry, not UWF's premier achievement, has been on ice for <i>exactly</i> one year to the day. Anjo and Miyato's fortunes have wavered but they meet again more-or-less where they were before: in the midcard, a long way from Maeda's throne.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-rmtDVrPOOk4/Wz0j5aq6UsI/AAAAAAAAEAw/F3sKx6XoakYTq6XvwjSTPtDZaMcmU99zQCEwYBhgL/s1600/uwfroad10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="339" data-original-width="579" height="233" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-rmtDVrPOOk4/Wz0j5aq6UsI/AAAAAAAAEAw/F3sKx6XoakYTq6XvwjSTPtDZaMcmU99zQCEwYBhgL/s400/uwfroad10.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Who will triumph in this rubber match for the ages? In a way that doesn't matter as much as the art does but there is plenty of that. Anjo does a nice soft suplex-type roll through into a submission that is just delightful. In fact, in the early running, when Anjo is on top there's this breezy-but-cool ha-ha-I'm-schooling-you vibe that is not at all hard to enjoy.<br />
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<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SPOXuS_EOtA/Wz0j5eFLtnI/AAAAAAAAEA0/K68tQPzIUe0n7NrJYcyvYRdvZbgamVhWACEwYBhgL/s1600/uwfroad11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="386" data-original-width="561" height="275" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SPOXuS_EOtA/Wz0j5eFLtnI/AAAAAAAAEA0/K68tQPzIUe0n7NrJYcyvYRdvZbgamVhWACEwYBhgL/s400/uwfroad11.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
Miyato alternates between being a bit cheesy or a bit boring and inexpressive but perhaps that is just in comparison to other excellent shoot-stylists that just so happen to be his pioneering colleagues? I am not sure. Sometimes when Miyato is on I find myself wishing I was watching another era-appropriate wrestler (like idk Bobby Eaton?) but rarely-if-ever when Kazuo Yamazaki is on screen. <br />
<br />
With respect these two do a little sequence that rings true to my junior judo days where neither competitor can 'grip up' satisfyingly leading the two to sort of spin around half-holding onto each other in a barely-controlled way. When it ends Miyato unleashes some kicks and reveals himself to be bust badly at the nose that I *think* he sustains getting his head too close in while performing a suplex.<br />
<br />
Anjo gruffly takes Miyato over with an ogoshi and controls Miyato's arms up to a rope break. Anjo writhes free of an attempted Miyato ogoshi and resumes control with a sleeper that looks extra cool because Miyato is both grimacing and bleeding profusely.<br />
<br />
In a scrappy and charged match, rope breaks and knockdowns are exchanged almost arbitrarily for a few middle minutes. Eventually Anjo powers through the final minutes, repeatedly dropping Miyato with a variety of kicks and knees to win by TKO. Everything both guys did was satisfying, but it was hard to detect a particular story here. It didn't feel like a deciding match in an eternal battle of midcard rivals. It just felt like a match. Maybe that's the point. I'm not above saying maybe I don't get everything about UWF.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-18BhT_nsw1s/Wz0j5XVVL4I/AAAAAAAAEAs/IJtqN1vIGEwhWj2DRwYgKNGWmG7LbC4ugCEwYBhgL/s1600/uwfroad12.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="384" data-original-width="563" height="272" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-18BhT_nsw1s/Wz0j5XVVL4I/AAAAAAAAEAs/IJtqN1vIGEwhWj2DRwYgKNGWmG7LbC4ugCEwYBhgL/s400/uwfroad12.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
I should also point out that on this tape, aside from the long ceremony at the start, there are absolutely zero video packages. At least up to now. One match ends. The next one starts. What is next?<br />
<br />
Well, if Suzuki-Nakano II and Anjo-Miyato IV didn't grab ya, how about <b>Akira Maeda</b> facing <b>Kazuo Yamazaki</b> for the fifth time? Okay, Maeda has beaten Yamazaki's ass like a drum every single time, but there's always a puncher's chance, right? Plus their matches tend to me pretty good. Their bouts on the first UWF show and the May History 2nd shows (fourth bout) are particularly strong examples of the UWF not-quite real realistic fake-fight paradox world we inhabit.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br />
Yamazaki looks pensive ahead of the match, whilst Maeda looks cocky and imperial. They shake hands and the crowd are primed. Even feigned punches and pulled kicks get OOOOHs and UUUHHWAAAAHs.<br />
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5vdEH9168hE/Wz0k7sW-6MI/AAAAAAAAEBI/OikeyLMD5zs6i-w-N-j9gsiJQTb4EOAfwCLcBGAs/s1600/uwfroad15.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="377" data-original-width="579" height="260" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5vdEH9168hE/Wz0k7sW-6MI/AAAAAAAAEBI/OikeyLMD5zs6i-w-N-j9gsiJQTb4EOAfwCLcBGAs/s400/uwfroad15.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I can beat him, I can beat him, I can beat him</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Yamazaki throws a nice middle kick to let Maeda know who he's in with. Problem is, Maeda knows. Maeda backs up, raising his knee as a guard, and then attempts an overhand slap that Yamazaki is wise to. The pair collapse together with Maeda taking the momentum, though the thrust and parry is foiled in the ropes.<br />
<br />
A few minutes of speculative groundwork. Perhaps TK Scissors, an expert in matters <i>ne waza</i>, can illuminate whether Maeda is a good submission artist. Because if I were to call it one way or the other I would say possibly not. I mean, he could kick my ass in a grappling match, but there is more to it than that. On the other hand Yamazaki is a natural and it is his fluidity and foresight that seems to keep these low-key moments charged with some drama.<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Lt8D0j09XRI/Wz0k7jlWwRI/AAAAAAAAEBE/uGSw3vgbvf4eAJinAn0ybAv0Li5bNBG_ACEwYBhgL/s1600/uwfroad16.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="380" data-original-width="497" height="305" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Lt8D0j09XRI/Wz0k7jlWwRI/AAAAAAAAEBE/uGSw3vgbvf4eAJinAn0ybAv0Li5bNBG_ACEwYBhgL/s400/uwfroad16.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
Maeda eventually barrels Yamazaki over with a German suplex that progresses nicely into kesa gatame, that underrated jewel in the groundwork armory. Yamazaki breaks though Maeda's earnestness about this technique is much as mine and he won't let go for an extra second or two on a rope break. When they stand again, Maeda continues to dominate for knockdown, swiftly followed by another one. Poor Kazuo can't catch a break.<br />
<br />
Yamazaki goes on a weary charge, scoring big with a suplex. But Maeda has the landing scouted and comes back up for oxygen whilst twisting Yamazaki's knees in a leg hold. Yamazaki hits the ropes and throws a wheel kick and quickly gets into position to hit a knee bar of his own. Perhaps the tide is turning?<br />
<br />
Nope. Maeda breaks at the ropes, ties up with Yamazaki, catches a kick, and turns into an instant Reverse Achilles Tendon for a quick and painful tap and 5-0 in the series between the two. A solid match though ultimately this show feels like one of the smaller ones where they go at 70% intensity. Which is still good.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1_rwT7UMcsc/Wz0k7gm679I/AAAAAAAAEBM/Q-oAvTnNyX8tugy6NS35oVWkBX0Hz6HGwCEwYBhgL/s1600/uwfroad17.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="393" data-original-width="573" height="273" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1_rwT7UMcsc/Wz0k7gm679I/AAAAAAAAEBM/Q-oAvTnNyX8tugy6NS35oVWkBX0Hz6HGwCEwYBhgL/s400/uwfroad17.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">what on earth did you come to expect?</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
To round off our evening of sequels is the second time <b>Yoshiaki Fujiwara</b> and <b>Nobuhiko Takada </b>have met within these walls - but given their long history in New Japan and the original UWF that I am not going to look up right now I would wager this is at least the dozenth time these two men have shared a ring.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Their previous match was a stormer at Fighting Art in Nakajima just four months prior to this - a match in which Takada won, but in a controversial manner in which the referee called a knockdown, Fujiwara's fifth and final, when in fact he seemed to be momentarily stunned and still able to fight on. It was also a total classic.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ltFgbgm4F9Y/Wz0myOzJT0I/AAAAAAAAEBo/1iAccfzmiR4O5HtqgGKpXbjSuxknlr8CgCLcBGAs/s1600/uwfroad23.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="422" data-original-width="580" height="290" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ltFgbgm4F9Y/Wz0myOzJT0I/AAAAAAAAEBo/1iAccfzmiR4O5HtqgGKpXbjSuxknlr8CgCLcBGAs/s400/uwfroad23.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">welcome to the Yoshiaki Fujiwara Show</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Straight into this fairly major-seeming match we go with only the memories of Fujiwara's tears at the outset serving as any kind of aplomb. Fujiwara gets a clearly bigger cheer than company #2 Takada (about whom I have had some thoughts and discoveries that I will share at a later date) before the bell rings. <br />
<br />
Fujiwara is straight-up dancing in there, his face a picture, trying to throw Takada off with an uncharacteristically goofy smile. The opening standing grapples go according to the form-book: Takada tries to hulk Fujiwara, who just about maintains parity with solid technique and balance.<br />
<br />
At every turn Fujiwara is out-wrestling Takada, so the bigger man throws a frustrated slap that makes Fujiwara smile at a plan working. And when Takada finally stops Fujiwara in a leg entanglement of his own, Fujiwara goes extra calm and starts working some devilish magic to reverse the tide rather than mugging in earnest. <br />
<br />
At times you start to think Fujiwara is the soul of this company to Maeda's face and brain. This match is just a one-man masterclass and Takada is the pupil being dragged along for the ride. All the charisma and interesting work is flowing from Fujiwara, whether he's fending off one of Takada's awkward lumbers forward or deploying his array of wily grapples on the offensive. Not that I dislike Takada; far from it, in fact.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9u983z6F6us/Wz0mxpSR79I/AAAAAAAAEBk/V2iHHp9YWNIhlSBOW1lrlsQF1LZX28BZQCEwYBhgL/s1600/uwfroad22.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="421" data-original-width="588" height="286" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9u983z6F6us/Wz0mxpSR79I/AAAAAAAAEBk/V2iHHp9YWNIhlSBOW1lrlsQF1LZX28BZQCEwYBhgL/s400/uwfroad22.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
It's not a match of extensive knockdowns and rope-breaks because Fujiwara knows escapes that don't deplete his rope break resources. Takada starts getting frustrated at how often he's swinging and missing, so he throws a wheel kick - and another! - but they both miss. Fujiwara calmly backs up, making the ring seemed ocean-sized, and grabs the outstretched leg of Takada mid-flight. The crowd go wild as Fujiwara just folds Takada over into a gruesome submission that Takada scoots away from.<br />
<br />
Takada just gets madder and backs Fujiwara into the corner and throws all manner of big bombs with hands and legs. Fujiwara nearly catches one, but ultimately ends up on the mat locked in one of Takada's comparatively boring submissions that the crowd don't buy half as convincingly as any of Fujiwara's.<br />
<br />
Fujiwara gets a massive cheer after dancing away from a Takada series of assaults. His dancing backs Takada up, seemingly bereft of ideas that might defeat this prematurely-geriatric masterpiece. In this moment of unknowing, Fujiwara decisively drops Takada for a count.<br />
<br />
On resumption Fujiwara just keeps dancing! Never has a man so surly been so in his element. This pisses Takada off to degrees of extreme violence and soon our dancing man finds himself a kneeling-by-the-ropes-having-been-kicked man. The main event continues to deliver past the 20 minute mark, a moment marked by Fujiwara having his laces retied by the referee. Even if there is to be a screwy ending like last time then this is still a UWF match of note. <br />
<br />
But the ending is clean as a whistle. Fujiwara traps Takada in a cross kneelock and Takada taps. Fujiwara mounts the turnbuckle and the crowd are ecstatic at his triumph. A super match.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-d-SNdEx4qmw/Wz0mxh107aI/AAAAAAAAEBg/Q6ewyt7YLYkomE9P2i5I25-fIQa4HlUwgCEwYBhgL/s1600/uwfroad20.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="393" data-original-width="492" height="318" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-d-SNdEx4qmw/Wz0mxh107aI/AAAAAAAAEBg/Q6ewyt7YLYkomE9P2i5I25-fIQa4HlUwgCEwYBhgL/s400/uwfroad20.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<br />
<a href="http://superduperplex.blogspot.com/2017/07/nobuhiko-takada-vs-yoshiaki-fujiwara.html">But don't just take my word for it. Superduperplex reviewed this bout last year</a>:<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
He's (<i>Fujiwara - ed.</i>) pretty great here as the wily veteran, hip-hopping Takada into a
corner and blasting him with a headbutt, which serves as the real
turning point in this match. Takada starts letting loose with the kicks,
there are a couple of suplex throws from both sides, and the finish was
pretty great, as Takada goes for one of his lame ass leglocks and
Fujiwara counters with the cross kneebar and really cranks it in,
sending Takada reeling, scrambling for the ropes and trying to peel
Fujiwara off before finally tapping out. Fujiwara's post-match old man
celebration is about as good as the match itself.
</blockquote>
<br />
Fujiwara receives a large trophy. But his greatest reward is, on exiting the ring, marching over to the family with the portrait of the boy shown earlier and hugging it close to his chest, near to tears.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jktn9vF8RGs/Wz0mxe7qlVI/AAAAAAAAEBs/wT5jLZ47V9MZv4_eCBVW1W_0Lq6TUehtQCEwYBhgL/s1600/uwfroad21.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="402" data-original-width="549" height="292" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jktn9vF8RGs/Wz0mxe7qlVI/AAAAAAAAEBs/wT5jLZ47V9MZv4_eCBVW1W_0Lq6TUehtQCEwYBhgL/s400/uwfroad21.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
Who said this company was cerebral?<br />
<br />
<b>NEXT:</b> a show from late 1990!</div>
D. Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14629124673589292567noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6812605115270563531.post-89265709707604563152018-07-02T07:33:00.000-07:002018-07-03T06:35:15.381-07:00UWF 30/09/89 and 01/10/89 - FORCE KORAKUEN 2 DAYS (16/31 & 17/31)<b>UWF Force Korakuen 2 Days (Day 1) </b><br />
Korakuen Hall, Tokyo<br />
30th September 1989<br />
att. 2300<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
In spite of the unwieldy title up there, and the months that have passed awaiting the transition of the stars and oceans and gods that deign to re-align and offer us the beauteous bounty of shoot-style tapes unearthed, the most important thing is that this blog continues in its quest to bring to you (and mostly to me) the good news about the olden tymes wrestling that purported to be real (it was not but also<i>...it was</i>). </div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-879msI88qUs/WznwsZomjpI/AAAAAAAAD8Y/QmaI_kQa1rMZJADRIlCiZOBdGxwe6h3XwCLcBGAs/s1600/PRO-WRESTLING-T-shirt-BIG-MOUTH-LOUD-Akira-Maeda.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="400" height="300" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-879msI88qUs/WznwsZomjpI/AAAAAAAAD8Y/QmaI_kQa1rMZJADRIlCiZOBdGxwe6h3XwCLcBGAs/s400/PRO-WRESTLING-T-shirt-BIG-MOUTH-LOUD-Akira-Maeda.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Let me recap in Plain English for those of you playing catch-up. The second version of wrestling company UWF emerged in 1988 and died in 1990. In their time spent on earth before ascent to heaven (RINGS) they produced 31 shows of gripping and profoundly moving professional wrestling that merit special discussion. The first 11 shows were easily available and have been covered within this parish. A gap of two missing shows vexes before reviewing shows 14 and 15. Then another gap of two shows before covering the final two shows of 1989 (18 and 19). The remaining 12 shows, taking place in 1990, are the least widely disseminated. And up to now I have only covered one of them (show 23).</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br />
<a name='more'></a>The major news is this: four more shows have been unearthed. One of our friends in the shootstyle annals sent me a private message on the hellportal known as Twitter with directions to shows 16 and 17 (this review) and two more from 1990. So here we are and here we go until time and tide halts us again. Order be damned. We shoot our shot.</div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-KhstvIVIjgE/Wznx9VDbU5I/AAAAAAAAD8g/r_HdeKies2sWIsTqqBHZzT2ZjOKqEO7RACLcBGAs/s1600/forcek01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="331" data-original-width="571" height="231" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-KhstvIVIjgE/Wznx9VDbU5I/AAAAAAAAD8g/r_HdeKies2sWIsTqqBHZzT2ZjOKqEO7RACLcBGAs/s400/forcek01.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">the three words he wants to hear</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
After a period of absence a quick re-orientation: these two shows take place between the Nagano show that featured a really inexplicably dreadful Fujiwara-Funaki main event (spoiler: we do not see Funaki until next April and apparently he had a pretty bad arm injury going into that match, which explains it well) and the excellent Nakajima show featuring Akira Maeda putting Kiyoshi Tamura out of action for a year.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The chants of MA-E-DA that we hold so dear appear over a montage before the triumphant parping of the unsurpassed UWF theme (unsurpassed in terms of summoning immediately to mind a parade of proud warriors ready to do battle with nothing in their hearts but love) and then a ten bell salute in a light that fades up from darkness.</div>
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-STV0YGtITcw/Wzowb0ElUDI/AAAAAAAAD80/gH4XZxHRbHckAA8Wis9NdNFY2qEgvOSowCEwYBhgL/s1600/forcek03.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="321" data-original-width="568" height="225" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-STV0YGtITcw/Wzowb0ElUDI/AAAAAAAAD80/gH4XZxHRbHckAA8Wis9NdNFY2qEgvOSowCEwYBhgL/s400/forcek03.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
We are here in Korakuen, that perfect combat rectangle, where the crowd are clapping heartily as six chosen fighters emerge and glide over the attractive parquet flooring of this Suidobashi tower block toward the ocean blue ring. Over the two nights of this show we will see pretty much all of the big names of UWF - and some familiar guests - in a setting that seems more akin to a "house show", the intimate spectacle where perhaps not all of the stops will be pulled out though what stops are pulled out (what are stops?) will be done that little bit closer to your face. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
To preserve the notion that this is real, our friends will only fight once, effectively spacing out one long night of action over two. Tatsuo Nakano speaks briefly and gets a loud cheer. That's your oration for the evening.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
So, we know what fate befalls <b>Kiyoshi Tamura</b> next month, so let us deeply revel in his being alive as he faces "Mr 200%" <b>Yoji Anjo</b>. 45 minutes time limit should be enough for Tamura to unveil volume one of his multi-parted excellence, though his booking has barely allowed him to survive longer than six minutes whilst he is still a youthful pup.</div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-EAaAEOvEhk4/Wzowb6dSwMI/AAAAAAAAD9A/uStkSQdI0lInKXbRvVRh0n078G4pG43ggCEwYBhgL/s1600/forcek04.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="434" data-original-width="543" height="318" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-EAaAEOvEhk4/Wzowb6dSwMI/AAAAAAAAD9A/uStkSQdI0lInKXbRvVRh0n078G4pG43ggCEwYBhgL/s400/forcek04.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">TA-MU-RA</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
After some greasy groundwork, Anjo knees Tamura in the mid-section, opening up a cool exchange of kicks. Anjo grabs a cravat and knees Tamura in the head gruesomely, and though Tamura tries to jink and slink his way to an escape, Anjo ends up in full mount and pounding on our boy prince in an ungainly manner. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Tamura remains cool and fights his way to parity, trying to ensnare the more upright Anjo into precarious leg entanglements. He can't quite get any advance as Anjo gets the cravat again and then works through to a rough-looking kimura that Tamura scuttles to the ropes to break. Another flurry follows on standing and then another Tamura break.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
They return to standing again and Tamura steps on the throttle, unloading with palm strikes and kicks, bringing the crowd to boiling point. After making Anjo flinch and recoil, Anjo takes the initiative, suplexing Tamura to a palpable wave of disappointment - they want Tamura! - which is quelled as Tamura returns the favour with a snap suplex so crisp that its essence has been analysed by pilsner craftsmen worldwide.</div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ubGyv8OwMIo/Wzowcubar5I/AAAAAAAAD9E/h1WNReNXNC0uhkN-pGXTH7s-r7wVb-p8QCEwYBhgL/s1600/forcek05.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="422" data-original-width="563" height="298" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ubGyv8OwMIo/Wzowcubar5I/AAAAAAAAD9E/h1WNReNXNC0uhkN-pGXTH7s-r7wVb-p8QCEwYBhgL/s400/forcek05.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">AN-JO-OH</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The closing moments see a kick battle won by Anjo to the tune of a knockdown, a palm strike battle won by Anjo for another knockdown, a violent assault of knees by Tamura rejected and turned into a choke by Anjo, and then a final roll into a kneelock that wins the bout for the experienced senior fighter in just over 8 minutes. A brief handshake is accepted by Tamura, who has at least demonstrated his superior fighting if not his superior ability to win (or be booked as winner).</div>
<br />
<b>Norman Smiley</b> returns and speaks to camera:<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Today's opponent is very very tough and experienced - Mr. Fujiwara - has been wrestling for many many years and has a lot of experience and is a good wrestler. He's going to be a very tough opponent today for me to compete with - and hopefully beat - and one of my many goals is to be known as a great wrestler here in Japan and the United States.</blockquote>
</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-m5uZAqDxDFM/WzoyYAxC8EI/AAAAAAAAD9M/XOTauP90yZMwm6MR5QEiV5hSRIHMcdI9ACLcBGAs/s1600/forcek06.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="429" data-original-width="534" height="321" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-m5uZAqDxDFM/WzoyYAxC8EI/AAAAAAAAD9M/XOTauP90yZMwm6MR5QEiV5hSRIHMcdI9ACLcBGAs/s400/forcek06.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">NO CHANT AVAILABLE</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>Yoshiaki Fujiwara</b> is also interviewed, looking full Murder Dad, but I don't yet possess the Japanese. It sounds good though.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Fujiwara starts by doing his semi-circle around his opponent. On locking up, Smiley hurls Fujiwara down and takes it to the mat. Such confidence is admirable, but taking the fight to Fujiwara's home town? Borderline insane.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The two roll nicely if not exactly wild with intensity. The exhibition feel is highlighted as Fujiwara smiles and lies flat on his back while Smiley is trying something a bit florid on his legs, breaking the crowd into laughter. Smiley gets them back though, working through Fujiwara's knees for something more straight-forward and legitimate that gets everyone's attention.</div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ghUv30oyyHg/WzoyYVy14MI/AAAAAAAAD9Q/yUr72erzfM420ASk6vqnGMalVVSulPLLwCEwYBhgL/s1600/forcek07.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="432" data-original-width="539" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ghUv30oyyHg/WzoyYVy14MI/AAAAAAAAD9Q/yUr72erzfM420ASk6vqnGMalVVSulPLLwCEwYBhgL/s400/forcek07.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">FU-JIWAR-AH</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
On standing, Smiley looks to Greco-Roman for inspiration, holding Fujiwara around his waist and attempting to shackle his villianous arms. It is for naught as Fujiwara simply shifts his hips and sends Smiley's body centre southwards, heading face-first to the mat. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
This becomes the rough sketch for the whole match: Smiley is muscular and strong but it is nothing compared to Fujiwara's peerless technique and steely nerve. Smiley grounds Fujiwara in mune-gatame, looking for a kimura, but Fujiwara works away, hiding his arm and forcing Smiley near the ropes for an easy break.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The pair stand and trade kicks. Fujiwara takes a few and looks annoyed. The crowd laugh. There's a brief grapple and then Fujiwara launches head first at Smiley with a headbutt. Smiley stays down clutching his face in agony for the full ten and Fujiwara's forehead is put over as a new murder weapon alongside pretty much every other part of his body. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
There's a brief confusion in the ring between the two as to whether that was the actual finish or a botch. But so many Fujiwara matches end in this creative and weird way that I can't help but feel that this is how it was meant to go down.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Tonight's main event pits the newly beloved <b>Tatsuo Nakano</b> against the second most beloved man in the Kingdom <b>Nobuhiko Takada</b>. </div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qBcTK0Gq5oE/WzoyYZSrkpI/AAAAAAAAD9k/YXbDbNS9l-cGBQvkdg7Afz6yiQfrE9u9ACEwYBhgL/s1600/forcek08.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="420" data-original-width="549" height="305" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qBcTK0Gq5oE/WzoyYZSrkpI/AAAAAAAAD9k/YXbDbNS9l-cGBQvkdg7Afz6yiQfrE9u9ACEwYBhgL/s400/forcek08.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">NA-KA-NO</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Nakano runs straight at Takada and throws wild slaps and punches that backs Takada up into the corner momentarily. Takada pauses and picks up the shorter man and hurls him overhead and boots him for good measure onto the floor. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Nakano is utterly undeterred, having made his name afresh on pure adrenaline-guided brutality. It is not Nakano without punishment taken and with quarter given. Even the collar-and-elbow tie up that Nakano does has the qualities associated with stags locking horns or two beer monsters fighting in the taxi queue on a Wigan Saturday.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
In the face of this love for his opponent, Takada attempts to pour cold water on the situation rather than firing back. He grounds Nakano with a seated rear choke. But Nakano is wise to this, fighting out and getting round Takada to fire kicks and slaps on his seated opponent. A bruising kick to the head sees Nakano score a knockdown and eruptions of devotion from the 2300 in attendance.</div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hkM3gOO8MgM/WzoyZAXBqEI/AAAAAAAAD9o/3TcjWZja2JwN-D2Wm-DJlL0ocZKJ0dFwwCEwYBhgL/s1600/forcek09.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="432" data-original-width="517" height="333" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hkM3gOO8MgM/WzoyZAXBqEI/AAAAAAAAD9o/3TcjWZja2JwN-D2Wm-DJlL0ocZKJ0dFwwCEwYBhgL/s400/forcek09.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">TA-KA-DA</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Takada is wise and returns to his plan after regaining consciousness. This time he finds himself in mount, grinding Anjo down with a succession of captures every time Anjo thinks that he has wriggled to freedom. Takada circles Anjo away from the ropes in a waki-gatame, weakening the shorter bomb-thrower. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The longer it goes, the less chance Nakano has, and he knows it. He batters Takada with lunging kicks and puts Takada on his seat. Takada has had enough. He regains his karate pose and dumps Nakano in return for a 9 count. Takada attempts a spinning kick but is caught mid-flight by Nakano, who hits a stunning German Suplex to bring him one step closer to victory. Groundwork, however, has been Nakano's Achilles since day one. He cannot unpick the lock and Takada capitalises. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
A worn-down Nakano senses time is running out and throws strikes that are easily rebuffed by Takada, growing into the fight. Nakano takes a knockdown and on getting up is hurled for a back suplex that Takada runs straight through into an armbar for the tapout victory. Great stuff though.</div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-lg2LMmb8sBM/WzoyZXSKLxI/AAAAAAAAD9s/CX9wVEjBr8AfwXO9HEdtHlY5kLOijI-ugCEwYBhgL/s1600/forcek10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="427" data-original-width="451" height="377" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-lg2LMmb8sBM/WzoyZXSKLxI/AAAAAAAAD9s/CX9wVEjBr8AfwXO9HEdtHlY5kLOijI-ugCEwYBhgL/s400/forcek10.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Nakano stays down for a some time after the bell. Takada checks that he is okay, proffers a handshake, and puts the spirited battler over to the crowd, subtly stealing some of his aura as the crowd chant NA-KA-NO until both men leave. Takada is interviewed while encasing himself in ice after the show, as is a bruised Nakano. Night one done! A lovely short show!</div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HPYfZiVoYxM/Wzo0X0VjoiI/AAAAAAAAD90/Y0axJaYlg90iyOT9tl0qvvLy90ktTlNSACEwYBhgL/s1600/forcek11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="425" data-original-width="567" height="298" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HPYfZiVoYxM/Wzo0X0VjoiI/AAAAAAAAD90/Y0axJaYlg90iyOT9tl0qvvLy90ktTlNSACEwYBhgL/s400/forcek11.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<b>UWF Force Korakuen 2 Days (Day 2) </b><br />
Korakuen Hall, Tokyo<br />
1st October 1989<br />
att. 2400<br />
<br />
It is so subtle that you may not notice it but announcing a different - but larger - fake number for attendance for a show headlined by Maeda is so Akira Maeda that I just want to kiss it.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-M52HNTSDtGk/Wzo0X6HFCUI/AAAAAAAAD98/LpQuBNbR6P4RC2fL9JjHPhDlcBhlpUFZQCLcBGAs/s1600/forcek12.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="407" data-original-width="460" height="353" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-M52HNTSDtGk/Wzo0X6HFCUI/AAAAAAAAD98/LpQuBNbR6P4RC2fL9JjHPhDlcBhlpUFZQCLcBGAs/s400/forcek12.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">NO CHANT</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
The oration on night two is performed by Shigeo Miyato, though the video cuts out the parade (which to be fair seems identical to the previous night). We then cut straight to <b>Johnny Barrett</b> (sometimes known as JUMBO BARETTA, a great name) who cuts a small promo:<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Err. Suzuki's a lot smaller than the two opponents I've faced before in Japan. Takada's a big guy and Maeda's a big guy. So now I have to wrestle Suzuki in a different style. Be more aggressive with Suzuki since he is smaller than I am. But I'm not going to take him lightly because I've seen him wrestle and I know what he can do in the ring. So I think we're in for a really good match between Suzuki and myself.</blockquote>
</div>
<b>Minoru Suzuki</b> is then interviewed, looking pouty and handsome. Sigh.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-wUZHO-h_GFg/Wzo0X8Qf1QI/AAAAAAAAD94/KZha8gMoMzQp-6pEJAik3KwhNlx0QmAkQCEwYBhgL/s1600/forcek13.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="433" data-original-width="554" height="312" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-wUZHO-h_GFg/Wzo0X8Qf1QI/AAAAAAAAD94/KZha8gMoMzQp-6pEJAik3KwhNlx0QmAkQCEwYBhgL/s400/forcek13.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">SU-ZU-KI</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Barrett is monstrously huge and wearing an all-pink Jim Neidhart-style ensemble that accentuates this physique. He also makes good on his promise to use his size and aggression, backing Suzuki up, and then slapping Suzuki around his head. Suzuki, all in blue, rides out this opening wave and weaves between Barrett's limbs to force him face-down to the mat. Barrett, as mentioned in previous dispatches, is no slouch on the ground despite looking like a lower-ranked sumo wrestler. He turns Suzuki's halting attack into a kneebar of his own, prompting Suzuki into a second strategic rethink in as many minutes.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Barrett even gets a lovely bit of pro-wrestling technique out: his kick is caught but he leg-scissors Suzuki down with his formerly standing leg. Suzuki tries to roll this through into a waki-gatame but Barrett sees through this and rolls through himself, eventually mounting Suzuki with all 300lb of his bodyweight, throwing sweaty slaps into the void. The ref calls it a knockdown while Suzuki gathers his faculties by the ropes.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The middle of the match is a titanic struggle of grappling, fighting for position, cautiously avoiding exposure and yielding to one's obvious weaknesses (Barrett is slow, Suzuki small). There is little to separate them and it is fascinating. The crowd are completely locked into a match that is less "obviously spectacular" and more "like a fight" though of course it is not completely "like a fight".</div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-miNj-WeQGQk/Wzowb1tgpII/AAAAAAAAD9E/htBUYVGeJjQeB20hJ370Rz8KL-W5Txo_ACEwYBhgL/s1600/forcek02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="407" data-original-width="582" height="278" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-miNj-WeQGQk/Wzowb1tgpII/AAAAAAAAD9E/htBUYVGeJjQeB20hJ370Rz8KL-W5Txo_ACEwYBhgL/s400/forcek02.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
A brilliant exchange of standing strikes ends with Suzuki collapsing and Barrett falling four-square on top of him in a brutal and possibly unintended 'splash'. Suzuki squirms out and takes Barrett over and quickly locks in the armbar. The crowd erupt at this ingenuity, having previously feared for the victor's health beneath the weight of Barrett. Both shake hands and the crowd chant SU-ZU-KI! until both leave. Cool stuff.</div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ZFVmGZGw4pQ/Wzo1P6Wv40I/AAAAAAAAD-M/NCm1xb_D-MQMukrS9hnkIdrSGni_Ady7QCLcBGAs/s1600/forcek14.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="420" data-original-width="522" height="321" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ZFVmGZGw4pQ/Wzo1P6Wv40I/AAAAAAAAD-M/NCm1xb_D-MQMukrS9hnkIdrSGni_Ady7QCLcBGAs/s400/forcek14.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">VALE-UH</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The beautiful <b>Bart Vale</b>, kenpoist to the stars, returns and looks a bit jet-lagged and talks to the people at home:</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Yamazaki is a very good athlete and probably one of the most difficult men I will come up against. I feel I'm going to do real well against him. He's superior in more than just wrestling. I watched him train. He's very flexible, very quick, and very powerful.</blockquote>
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Not sure about the last one Bart, but that was generous. <b>Kazuo Yamazaki</b> speaks also, whilst wearing the FORCE KORAKUEN 2 DAYS t-shirt that I now covet.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Be-mulleted Bart wears a black vest with his white loose trousers that accentuate his rangy legs. He proves their efficiency by immediately booting Yamazaki in the head for an eight count before we're even half a minute old. Vale tries to keep Yamazaki at distance and pick his smaller opponent off, but that flexibility and speed comes into play as Yamazaki catches and darts in beneath the now-horizontal leg of Bart Vale. Vale's not for co-operating here and the position falls to nothingness.</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Q6E_qOGxckQ/Wzo1P0slsII/AAAAAAAAD-Q/pZckGi1fCKQguTotGKg5Thzxt5smgvoSwCEwYBhgL/s1600/forcek16.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="423" data-original-width="528" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Q6E_qOGxckQ/Wzo1P0slsII/AAAAAAAAD-Q/pZckGi1fCKQguTotGKg5Thzxt5smgvoSwCEwYBhgL/s400/forcek16.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">YA-MAZAK-I</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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This happens a couple of times - Vale's legs are so hard and their owners fall so deadweight that Yamazaki is struggling to manipulate Vale in a stricken position. Eventually Yamazaki gets something, working in a single crab. But Vale is so tall that the ropes are nearby from anywhere, leading him to simply wake up and pluck one at will.</div>
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The next time Yamazaki works on Vale's leg, Vale boots Yamazaki in the face with his free leg. This does not stop Yamazaki, who is adamant that he will single crab Vale to death. The crowd eat it up. Strangely, in the middle of a good old cinch, Yamazaki gives up a good position to chase a free arm and thus loses momentum as Vale shrugs it off. They stand and Vale does a big old amateur gutwrench takedown and then works through for a nasty-looking waki-gatame that the crowd buy as a possible finish. Fortunately for them, their local hero does not submit.</div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-1r_wJ-MPq8A/Wzo2p35o9SI/AAAAAAAAD-g/l84PJqU3lhoq6dvlcZ6fz6fL9WGM8zmKACLcBGAs/s1600/forcek17.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="392" data-original-width="588" height="266" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-1r_wJ-MPq8A/Wzo2p35o9SI/AAAAAAAAD-g/l84PJqU3lhoq6dvlcZ6fz6fL9WGM8zmKACLcBGAs/s400/forcek17.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Yamazaki is in trouble though and an attempted Vale submission brings Yamazaki to retching and coughing as his airwaves are mangled. Vale is mad with attack and Yamazaki momentarily looks not just beaten but clueless. The referee exhorts Yamazaki to GIVE UP? but he will not.</div>
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The pair return to standing and Yamazaki fires a solid looking headbutt in and gets around the back for a rear naked choke. Whilst the choke is settling, the crowd unmistakeably chant VALE-UH! VALE-UH! in the first real fluttering of affection for a foreign combatant here in UWF. However, it doesn't last long, as this choke is the final moment in the bout. Vale taps and the flames of joy are extinguised.</div>
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Main event promos from <b>Shigeo Miyato</b> and <b>Akira Maeda</b>, with presumably the former being mercilessly fed to the latter. Maeda dwarfs Miyato and doesn't think much of his strikes either, gleefully walking into them to throw shots of his own. Miyato abandons strikes and tries to grapple but Maeda just says NOPE and starts throwing horrendous knees that double Miyato over for a standing count.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-t7ENFHQykds/Wzo2p0Jh03I/AAAAAAAAD-k/K6xyGT6_cSkL3ldMgGcAN-DzBU3oH_fCgCEwYBhgL/s1600/forcek18.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="429" data-original-width="533" height="321" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-t7ENFHQykds/Wzo2p0Jh03I/AAAAAAAAD-k/K6xyGT6_cSkL3ldMgGcAN-DzBU3oH_fCgCEwYBhgL/s400/forcek18.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">MI-YAT-OH</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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On resumption there is no change. Maeda forces Miyato over and pretzels him roughly. Miyato is getting nothing but punishment. The crowd cheer for him to show some spirit from deep within the single crab he finds himself locked within the core of. Instead he escapes as Maeda gets up, looking bored, allowing Miyato to scuttle away.</div>
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Maeda takes Miyato down again and works into a kesa-gatame too near the ropes. Miyato continues to show heart in the face of the beast, but his kicks are caught and converted into a mammoth Capture Suplex. Maeda follows this with a leg submission. The crowd will Miyato to escape, and he tries, kicking vainly with his free leg. Miyato takes another down.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GKqs7ds2XzY/Wzo2p1H4rPI/AAAAAAAAD-o/SPZGKbJnBzMMEUqyEaf9RyofZGOvmUpOACEwYBhgL/s1600/forcek19.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="420" data-original-width="541" height="310" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GKqs7ds2XzY/Wzo2p1H4rPI/AAAAAAAAD-o/SPZGKbJnBzMMEUqyEaf9RyofZGOvmUpOACEwYBhgL/s400/forcek19.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">MA-E-DA</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Then Maeda decides to play really rough, kicking away Miyato's standing leg and punting him in the head. The referee intervenes as Maeda is about to unleash hell with Miyato hiding in the ropes. Maeda calmly waits for the resumption, wins the next strike battle with a furious headbutt, and puts Miyato down once again for an eight count.</div>
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Then - DRAMA - Miyato lands with the rolling sole butt and takes Maeda over for a single crab. The crowd loses their minds. Maeda looks okay beneath Miyato but the crowd want to believe it as so much more, clawing at the walls of Korakuen until Miyato wins. Miyato stands after Maeda breaks in the ropes and attempts to suplex Maeda, who rebuffs and performs a quick suplex of his own and follows into an armbar for the tapout. 6 minutes 15 seconds of drama, a perfect Maeda-esque match. Back to his brutal best.</div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-pHmPqUKWZII/Wzo2qpYx_fI/AAAAAAAAD-s/Oe0xyoRS2CgVjt0EHuJ1hs3NqosMWa70QCEwYBhgL/s1600/forcek20.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="422" data-original-width="539" height="312" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-pHmPqUKWZII/Wzo2qpYx_fI/AAAAAAAAD-s/Oe0xyoRS2CgVjt0EHuJ1hs3NqosMWa70QCEwYBhgL/s400/forcek20.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Post-match promos are performed, though Maeda has barely broken sweat. A fine pair of house shows!<br />
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<b>NEXT</b>: a UWF show from 1990!D. Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14629124673589292567noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6812605115270563531.post-57853513976571360352018-02-21T13:27:00.001-08:002018-02-22T03:03:56.310-08:00UWF 15/04/1990 - FIGHTING AREA (23/31)<b>UWF FIGHTING AREA</b><br />
15th April 1990<br />
Hakata Star Lanes, Fukuoka<br />
att. 4000<br />
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A brief extract from the Maeda text that arrived in my possession some time ago:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>- He's a big one for an easterner innee Harold?<br />- I'll say. Bit of a prick too.<br />- You what?<br />- He kicked Giant Haystacks so 'ard last night his balls were swollen like an aubergine.<br />- What's an aubergine?<br />- Weird vegetable. Big and purple. Like a marrow. Tastes of nowt.<br />- Christ.</i></blockquote>
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Rest in peace to the RealHero Archive, that repository of wrestling from Japan. You provided a good service to a hardcore of maybe 150 nerds though some of us still managed to gripe about the extensiveness of your coverage. But as one door closes another opens. The discovery of a full 1990 UWF show means that slowly, surely, and pleasantly, we can join the dots of this incredible tale.<br />
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jEdDvoOwpjM/Wo3hMiPMnDI/AAAAAAAADsE/o3cwp1C2tKM6o4qw_0YHNl_K7g-vl7xtACLcBGAs/s1600/farea1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="364" data-original-width="486" height="298" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jEdDvoOwpjM/Wo3hMiPMnDI/AAAAAAAADsE/o3cwp1C2tKM6o4qw_0YHNl_K7g-vl7xtACLcBGAs/s400/farea1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Since we here at <i>KSS</i> left you in October I sense that the world is increasingly ready for the re-dawning of handsomely-presented shoot-style: not only have the collected blogworks of TK Scissors, Kingdom of Shoot, and Hybrid Shoot (see right panel) fleshed out the inner workings of the style of yore, a number of things have occurred. Minoru Suzuki has risen near the top of New Japan, wiry shooter Masahito Kakihara won the New Japan Rumble - played in by the glorious tones of the UWF theme, a second Tetsujin shoot-style event occurred in Liverpool with triple the audience of the first event in 2015, the UFC has continued to circle the drain with its gaudily-presented and spectacle-free spectacle, while noted 'real fighters' Ronda Rousey, Shayna Baszler, and Matthew Riddle continue to make in-roads in the world of fixed fighting that looks more like a fight (well, Rousey is yet to match up with anyone, but I BELIEVE IN YOUR JUDO).</div>
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Of course, right now, this remains a niche concern and Volk Han remains un-WONHOF-ed. And though the physics-defying world of PWG-style balleticisms and slightly contrived weapon/barricade/apron spots performed by lifelong wrestling fans influences the main matches of New Japan and WWE, the grumpy expertise of well-trained athletes using tried and tested <i>waza </i>seems to offer a delightful corollary. Onward! Upward! The Long UWF never died!<br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-33ooj5E9XaE/Wo3hO4rACoI/AAAAAAAADsc/tGxD4BmZpBc1Gz5lSu6tNq9MgyitqMt0wCLcBGAs/s1600/farea4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="411" data-original-width="628" height="261" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-33ooj5E9XaE/Wo3hO4rACoI/AAAAAAAADsc/tGxD4BmZpBc1Gz5lSu6tNq9MgyitqMt0wCLcBGAs/s400/farea4.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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We left the year of 1989 (not quite reviewed in completeness) with Akira Maeda arguably at his most imperial: unbeaten in the calendar year and headlining the first ever show at the Tokyo Dome against Dutch judo veteran Willy Wilhelm. </div>
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The overriding blog philosophy now is: to hell with order, we shoot our shot when shows become available. We skip ahead a few months, past shows at the Budokan, in Osaka, and Minamiashigara, to land in the cramped bowling alley-cum-ring sports venue of the Hakata Star Lanes in Fukuoka (the southern Korakuen in many respects). A training montage of familiar faces including a fairly filled-out Tatsuo Nakano and a moustachioed Nobuhiko Takada opens things up prior to a long-ish interview with the handsome Masakatsu Funaki. He is pensive and speaks in staccato bursts.<br />
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ztgKLDcYAD8/Wo3hOAC5wTI/AAAAAAAADsU/MPro486LDJkd0szeG9xC-7MtDJ22YVU5gCLcBGAs/s1600/farea2.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" data-original-height="393" data-original-width="584" height="215" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ztgKLDcYAD8/Wo3hOAC5wTI/AAAAAAAADsU/MPro486LDJkd0szeG9xC-7MtDJ22YVU5gCLcBGAs/s400/farea2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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A parade (dry ice, synth bass, searchlights, ring announcer shaped like Klaus Nomi, ****1/4) of tonight's fighters reveals that tonight's action will be based around the original six of UWF, the additional three fighters introduced by Yoshiaki Fujiwara, and one foreign guest. Curiously, prior to this, there is a brief but worthy demonstration of the skills and rules of UWF by two trainees that I cannot indentify. This alone causes the fans to whoop and OOOOH and celebrate harder than a lot of stuff I've seen on major wrestling TV shows of late.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-JwDjSBL-dXc/Wo3hOhtWT6I/AAAAAAAADsY/TZ4GMHWbbJosWQ2neun9lG83aYW2EUKBgCLcBGAs/s1600/farea3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="307" data-original-width="562" height="217" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-JwDjSBL-dXc/Wo3hOhtWT6I/AAAAAAAADsY/TZ4GMHWbbJosWQ2neun9lG83aYW2EUKBgCLcBGAs/s400/farea3.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="st"> If they saw my face / Could I still take a bow?</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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The night of fighting opens with the apparently loved cruiserweight battler <b>Shigeo Miyato</b> against the lanky kenpo enthusiast <b>Bart Vale</b>. Wisely Vale spends the opening keeping Miyato at leg length, threatening with these arcing and gymnastic leg thrusts that seem too graceful to be threatening kicks. Miyato backpedals a little and then cockily motions to Vale to come at him. Vale complies but Miyato's strategy fails him, as a takedown attempt results in getting kicked. Fans are jacked for this.</div>
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When Miyato catches a kick shortly after, they explode more. Vale enziguris with his standing leg and the crowd burst again. These people don't care about winners, they just want to see goddamn shoot-style opening matches and I think I understand them more than I have understood any audience at any time.</div>
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Bart Vale might never trouble the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame, nor will people take to writing letters about him to the Observer, nor harassing Dave Meltzer on Twitter (a medium at which he is probably in the bottom 1%, down there with your Cernoviches and your Isabel Oakeshotts and your Phil Greaveses) about Vale's whereabouts, but he is a totally competent dude and I'd like the history books to stop judging him as one of the weird failures of this style when in fact this style is so totally nascent that far from being a failure he is one of those pioneers who got scalped or just had a rival pioneer land somewhere richer; John Cabot to Ken Shamrock's Christopher Columbus.</div>
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These two are having an entertaining match while I am writing live but not always blow-for-blow. Turn your speakers up and absorb the crowd's enthusiasm and their basic but dramatic stuff will live with you. Miyato looks for ways to counter Vale's legs with submissions, sometimes Vale surprises Miyato by having a ground counter of his own too. Vale unleashes terrifying headkicks and Miyato eats mat. Miyato hits his contractually-obliged rolling sole butt (I like this move less and less and especially when against a guy whose legs are wider than his torso).<br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kDmJbogJq0Q/Wo3hPQzna7I/AAAAAAAADsg/GBoiDFADIN8Unm9_yzIpJHS5qCtMCfWuwCLcBGAs/s1600/farea5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="374" data-original-width="557" height="267" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kDmJbogJq0Q/Wo3hPQzna7I/AAAAAAAADsg/GBoiDFADIN8Unm9_yzIpJHS5qCtMCfWuwCLcBGAs/s400/farea5.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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There is a false finish when Miyato tries to judo Vale, but his ippon seionage attempt is countered by a sick choke that Miyato fights hard to get out of. It grinds Miyato down ahead of the finish shortly thereafter that is absolutely brilliant and ridiculous: Bart Vale hoists Miyato up for a fucking BORDER TOSS and then follows in with a camel clutch for the win. Miyato raises Vale's hand after the bell and rightly bloody so.</div>
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OOOOH SHIT FUJIWARA TRAINEES AND FUTURE PANCRASE FOUNDERS COLLIDE as <b>Masakatsu Funaki </b>and <b>Minoru Suzuki </b>face off and what the heck are both of these guys wearing? Funaki appears to have gone full Lou Thesz while Suzuki is in long white boots and blue trunks, an aesthetic disaster for one so famously excellent on attire.<br />
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-upwcdCEY75w/Wo3hP2lWUmI/AAAAAAAADsk/_Jh-bFXmB2A6Ym_AWjhN4bQRbza8AhYYgCLcBGAs/s1600/farea6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="397" data-original-width="529" height="300" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-upwcdCEY75w/Wo3hP2lWUmI/AAAAAAAADsk/_Jh-bFXmB2A6Ym_AWjhN4bQRbza8AhYYgCLcBGAs/s400/farea6.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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They make up for it by grappling the hell out of each other in the first 30 seconds using the energetic style of reversals and roll-throughs that UWF has seen since Fujiwara and his boys turn up. It's fluid, it's sexy, it's smooth. Suzuki drop seionages Funaki and gets into top control, then side control, then Funaki seems to get out, and the fans are like OMG what is THIS, and I am here to say in 2018 that friends this is an exhibition an EXHIBITION of grappling.</div>
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In stark contrast to Vale-Miyato, a good portion of this match is on the ground, fighting for position. On being stood up after a rope break, Suzuki shoots a leg and the fight returns to the ground momentarily, then up, then back again. There's a callback to the opening series of rolls where Funaki countered Suzuki's dominance with an attempted knee-bar, only with the names reversed.</div>
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A catcaller from the audience gets a series of big laughs. No idea what he said. Seemed like even Suzuki thought it funny whilst trying to force Funaki's hands apart. The momentum dips but the intensity doesn't as Suzuki rides Funaki's back like a tortoiseshell, threatening the neck and arms.<br />
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-BjNjkLIVqmM/Wo3hQBjkK-I/AAAAAAAADso/N3EuK5L_Qvswi73u-zGcnJnhliTlGlM9ACLcBGAs/s1600/farea7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="384" data-original-width="583" height="210" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-BjNjkLIVqmM/Wo3hQBjkK-I/AAAAAAAADso/N3EuK5L_Qvswi73u-zGcnJnhliTlGlM9ACLcBGAs/s320/farea7.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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There's a pedagogical point to this match I feel. After another series of dips and rolls and grappling, the ending comes out of nowhere as Funaki grabs a lighting leg hold that Suzuki yelps and taps out of quicksmart to lose just after the 8 minute mark. Such endings would be the hallmark of Pancrase, though these would allegedly be real fights. Here it throws the crowd somewhat, though they do not reject it. Neither do I. </div>
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<b>Akira Maeda</b> takes on <b>Tatsuo Nakano </b>in match three<b>. </b>I won't spoiler it by saying exactly what happened but the spiritual rebirth of Nakano occurred in this very hall on the last UWF visit. Perhaps this is why Maeda steps down a peg or two, to capitalise on the corona of the new underking. The crowd are bananas before the first contact.<br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-26--vyLSnD4/Wo3hQo_9QQI/AAAAAAAADss/72WeMufNsHMkITek0YpXsTQqSdBQkCYYwCLcBGAs/s1600/farea8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="408" data-original-width="468" height="347" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-26--vyLSnD4/Wo3hQo_9QQI/AAAAAAAADss/72WeMufNsHMkITek0YpXsTQqSdBQkCYYwCLcBGAs/s400/farea8.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Maeda controls the portly Nakano, who is shorter and lighter, at the offing. But this man Nakano is a reborn warrior of thug style. He goes after Maeda, who offers impassive resistance and occasionally a couple of stinging reminders of who the boss is, time and again. The crowd, all the while, <i>NA-KA-NO! NA-KA-NO!</i></div>
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The legs of King Maeda seem to stretch all the way across the 20ft square to repel Nakano but he will not relent. Maeda then unfurls the knees that murdered young Kiyoshi Tamura into a year on the sidelines, before wheelbarrowing Nakano over into an armbar. But still Nakano will not relent. He will not yield. When he escapes and punts Maeda in the head the crowd spontaneously combusts.</div>
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Maeda goes forward again with those knees, those nightmare knees, at once remorseless and biting. Nakano goes down and you exhort him to stay there and think of Tamura (and Nakano is no Tamura) but this man Nakano is an idiot and a hero and he chases Maeda across the ring and tosses him in revenge and mounts him with unfussy slaps and a rough choke as everyone in Japan cheers his name.</div>
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On the failure of this gambit, Maeda seeks revenge and nearly gets it with a choke that Nakano makes the ropes to escape. Nakano tries to catch Maeda napping but instead he plays himself. Maeda German suplexes the puggish one out of his boots but miraculously Nakano ends up rolling through and catches the boss flush for a knockdown.</div>
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A kick flurry is exchanged mid-ring as everyone in Asia has a collective aneurysm, before Maeda captures a leg, suplexes the man who owns it, and then cinches in a kneelock that Nakano taps from. Maeda holds Nakano's hand up at the end of the match in possibly the first glimpsing of Maeda's charitable side. Great match! Under eight minutes. They don't pay Maeda overtime.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-8Tfj59RHOdA/Wo3hQ3SOi9I/AAAAAAAADsw/SqrDC5633k8g63a7C3RbNHQyBb4fYGwKACLcBGAs/s1600/farea9.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="390" data-original-width="581" height="267" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-8Tfj59RHOdA/Wo3hQ3SOi9I/AAAAAAAADsw/SqrDC5633k8g63a7C3RbNHQyBb4fYGwKACLcBGAs/s400/farea9.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">COULD WE EVER DOUBT IT</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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This card, moving at a fine pace, hits match four as <b>Yoji Anjo</b> takes on the charming <b>Nobuhiko Takada</b>. The two met in Nagano last year in a fine but perfunctory bout, unsurprisingly won by Takada. With a crowd as ravenous for action as this maybe these two excellent craftsmen will crank it up a hair.</div>
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It's a slow open and it takes fully 45 seconds for the two to make contact. Anjo is smaller and slighter, but quicker, so he circles and looks for the opening in Takada's stout armour. There's a tentative grab here and a stinging kick in return, each guy reminding the other what fates could befall.<br />
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Takada tries to rope-a-dope Anjo by leaning into them and attempting to use his karate at range to fend off his swarming opponent. But Anjo is undeterred and he just gets in the mix and leg sweeps Takada and is unlucky to have his larger man basically fall on top of him and take control and grab for a kneebar. Anjo gets to the ropes.</div>
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Takada backs up again to the ropes but Anjo is just like no way man you are not doing this by diving low and sweeping him again. Takada falls awkwardly and the segment is broken by the referee. Anjo chases Takada hard on resumption, kneeing in the corner and suplexing the much larger Takada, who again cleverly uses momentum to roll through and take control sufficiently so that Anjo needs to break it on the ropes.</div>
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This story of Anjo charging and Takada cleverly and brutally rebuffing somehow is the story of the first half of the match, told with a pro-wrestling clarity and a shoot-stylist's technique. Which is to say: very pleasing.</div>
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Eventually Anjo makes headway unfettered by Takada's mighty comebacks, but he can't make them count. Takada dopes Anjo once again using the ropes, catching a kick and turning it into a mighty suplex whose follow-through sees Anjo wobbling his way through a knockdown.</div>
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Things get electric and real for both men with strike exchanges that see knockdowns and rolling sole butts that look GOOD and hard knees and all kinds of whooping from the non-partisan crowd. Takada kicks beefily and maybe Anjo has good stuff too though I must say wearing purple leopardprint does lead to -2 kick power in the mind's eye (and actual eye) of the viewer.<br />
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The last few minutes are a mindwhirl. There's stuff on the floor that feels like an ending and then brutal and brilliant strike flurries and desperation knockdowns that are completely the stuff of pro-wrestling (arguably the biggest stick to beat Takada with, he is a dramatist more than a fighter, he is nearer the fake world, but he is also consummate at it!) but to be honest I love the variety we've had tonight and I wouldn't change a thing. </div>
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The strikes eventually wear little Anjo out. As he hits the mat face down, Takada applies a Chickenwing from on top and Anjo has nowhere to run. Top stuff. </div>
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The main event is particularly exciting (on paper) to me as the two upper midcard gateway wrestlers <b>Kazuo Yamazaki</b> and <b>Yoshiaki Fujiwara </b>appear in a main event you think they have a reasonable chance of actually winning for once. Think of this, modern fan, as Jericho vs. Benoit, as Ishii vs. Shibata, as Takayasu vs. Yoshikaze, workraters elevated temporarily to a place befitting their workrate but perhaps not their stardom.</div>
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A handshake first. The refined Yamazaki backs up and then scuttles all the way across the ring a la CM Punk in UFC (he too is wearing Reebok brand attire on his lower half) and is met with a similar result as one Phil Brooks met as his opponent, the wily and violent man of catch wrestling Yoshiaki Fujiwara, nearly rips his leg off. Restart. Rethink.<br />
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Beyond that the first six minutes are really good. Both men show real gumption and inspiration. We haven't seen the stuff that either man does on this show yet, not that I am going to list it all. The reversals have personality, the psychology is clear, and the styles of each man show strengths and weaknesses. Sure, Yamazaki is younger and has hard kicks and an incisive manner on the ground, but Fujiwara is ruthless and smart and has written Danaher-esque charts on how to best cripple a man from any position. With the intensity of crowd spurring them on, we're in for a good one.</div>
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It's stuff like this that makes Fujiwara so great and so game-changing. In a fight or martial arts contest, if someone is trying to work on your leg but the other one is free, you can use it to fend off rather than just let them work on you and look for an attractive counter that makes people go OOOH. Fujiwara grinds his forearms into chins and ribs to open guards and defences. </div>
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But also Yamazaki's great early innovation in UWF comes to the fore - defending strikes. This may sound like no big deal but at the Tetsujin show I went to just 3 weeks ago, there were a great many straight-up roshambo strike-for-strike exchanges. The <i>lingua franca</i> of shoot-style as regards this particular predicament has been cemented by this great man. And as suchI fear that modern attempts to replicate this style have taken a little more from strong-style, a dramatic retelling of the real fight, using real techniques and real emotion, but not actually entirely real physics and reactions. Defending against moves does make things look realer, which also means sometimes they look uglier, coarser, rougher, and today's worker, I aver, is more concerned with the .gif than the technique. But I digress.</div>
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While I'm rambling and talking shit (I was once told on a date that I talk too much, it was kind of true) these two deeply underrated masters of their craft are building up the tension. No one appears dominant, unlike Takada-Anjo, where the former always seemed a likely winner. There's a cool bit where Fujiwara backs up to play possum, but Yamazaki scouts it and hits a great stamping kick through Fujiwara's grasp. </div>
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Fujiwara spins and leaves his opponent in the corner and drills him with palm strikes. Yamazaki defends, grabs for a suplex and tosses Fujiwara over. This leads to the conclusion, as Fujiwara gets up and Yamazaki high kicks him back to earth for a full ten count. Fujiwara was getting up at 10, but did not make it all the way.</div>
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Fujiwara shows Yamazaki some respect and to be honest it's about time someone here did! A closing montage sees Yamazaki being helped to the dressing room, exhausted, before being plonked down in front of a press conference. He looks out across the room, tired, in an unfamiliar situation, of winning in a UWF main event.<br />
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Great show! Good to be back! </div>
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<b>NEXT!</b>: no idea. </div>
D. Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14629124673589292567noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6812605115270563531.post-77866692414387635402017-10-09T16:57:00.000-07:002017-10-17T03:28:22.499-07:00UWF 29/11/1989 - U-COSMOS (19/31)<b>UWF U-COSMOS</b><br />
29th November 1989 <br />
Tokyo Dome, Tokyo<br />
att. 60000<br />
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<i>Pre-note: As it stands on the date of writing (10/10/17) this represents the final UWF Newborn show that I have in complete and watchable form, so perhaps there will be an enforced hiatus until the world of the internet turns and deposits the missing 1989 and the entirety of the 1990 shows somewhere accessible. </i></div>
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As we learn from watching RINGS (or if you are me, reading RINGSblog aka <a href="http://tkscissors.blogspot.co.uk/">TK Scissors</a>) Akira Maeda's obsessions in the years between UWF's death and RINGS' creation would morph from "shoot-style" wrestling in Japan to a nascent-MMA/NHB style incorporating fighters from around the world. We have seen the beginnings of that in UWF, sure, with the appearances of a sextet of shoot-boxers, Gerard Gordeau, Bart Vale, Trevor "Power" Clarke, Chris Dolman, etc. </div>
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What this card perhaps represents, at least for the continuity of these shoot-style blogs, is perhaps much more a dry run for RINGS than it is an evolution of UWF. Without spoiling future entries should they happen but in the UWF canon this event is <i>sui generis</i>. Sure they would still rope real fighters to pretend (spoiler) in the future but never again on this scale.<br />
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Commercially, the show was a smash hit. Fabled wrestling scrivener Dave Meltzer wrote of the occasion, long after the event:</div>
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<i><span style="font-family: inherit;">Its
most successful show was on November 29, 1989 at the Tokyo Egg Dome.
They sold 40,000 tickets for $2 million the first day tickets went on
sale, blistering all previous records for one-day sales (the SummerSlam
'92 at Wembley Stadium sold more tickets the first day they went on sale
although with much lower ticket prices). The show drew 60,000 fans
live, at the time the third largest crowd in pro wrestling history and a
record at the time in Japan, and $2.9 million, which was an all-time
world record at the time. It also was put on closed-circuit television
in nine locations, drawing another 15,000 fans. Between live tickets,
merchandise sales and closed-circuit revenue, the show grossed $5.6
million, which is a record never topped to this day in Japan.</span></i></blockquote>
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And so it would remain. But since the show I would suggest that it has not gone down in critical history as well as other UWF events and moments outside of its financial standing. There are a couple of written reviews and they are largely jaded and sneering. And there's <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uxIYS7Jqk-k">this watch-along video commentary review</a>, which I have not watched/listened to, but it exists.<br />
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Maeda's most successful wheeze to date begins as they all do, with atmospheric music playing over establishing shots of the venue. But this month's edition is the most successful of all of these beginnings simply because this is the freaking TOKYO DOME man (edit: is this the first Tokyo Dome wrestling show?). Maeda knows this and the montage is extended, as some new age synth gives away to a rockin' guitar break and the guest wrestlers carrying their luggage into the venue and craning their necks as if to say "we're wrestling here? And it's sold out???" After a freeze on the U-COSMOS name there are more montages, this time an intercut of pensive fans cut with various fighters undertaking their pre-show ritual.</div>
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Then, silence. The Tokyo Dome's iconic neon at night and then inside the stadium in real time. Lights. Pompous music of a thousand genres at once. The ring appears as a speck of light from the bird's nest position of the camera. Then the familiar voice of the UWF voice cuts through the mostly-blackness. A ten-bell salute occurs. Why? Dunno.<br />
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Parade time and it is set to my favourite UWF music - not the parping major key "hey we're the UWF" theme but the one with the slightly off-time piano and hang on wait this is not a parade (no parade?? DENIED) but the entrance music for <b>Shigeo Miyato</b>. We learn this because Miyato does not stand in the ring awaiting 7 to 11 other dudes but is ready, shirts off, and awaiting the person who the next, unfamiliar, theme soundtracks: <b>Tatsuo Nakano</b>. <br />
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Their series stands at 3 wins for Miyato, 1 draw, and a fat load of nothing for Nakano. A graphic flashes up with what I assumed to be the UWF win/loss record, which is a new touch. Miyato offers a hand in respect and Nakano walks away. The bell rings and Miyato, on soaking in this slight, rushes Nakano and starts throwing wild strikes. Things have a good energy about them though they take a couple of minutes for the first actual technique (Nakano -> fireman's carry) but it's ok because the crowd - 60000 of them! for shootstyle! - are pretty much into this one. Miyato hits the ropes after Nakano grinds dirtily atop him.<br />
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Miyato goes back on the offensive with a kick and a headbutt. Nakano bludgeons back with a pugilist pose and then wrenches Miyato over for a sick DOWN. When Miyato stands back up Nakano is not messing around, hitting high knees and then forcing his opponent to the ground in a rough-looking waki-gatame attempt that gets broken up.<br />
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Neither guy has really excelled on the floor in shoot or kayfabe so they return to their better senses and go standing. Nakano tries for a headlock takeover but Miyato powers up and hits a back suplex for a near knockout of a DOWN. Nakano gets up, raises his fists, and gets clobbered for another 8 count DOWN. And then again, only this time Nakano takes a standing count before sinking to his knees, winded. 3-1 to Miyato.<br />
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A resthold is taken to build some space into the match and to get Nakano a chance to catch breath. When the match goes upright again there is an exchange of suplexes that are no sold. In a routine strike exchange, Nakano slips around Miyato's back and applies a sleeper and Miyato quickly taps. The finish comes out of nowhere, but the fans are delighted, as I am sure Nakano is after defeating Miyato at the fifth attempt.<br />
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Now I guess that match was actually the pre-show as some kind of majestic rock concert appears to be taking place in our beloved Dome. The ring is flashing up quite a lot and a laser show with lots of waveform laser effects is very much happening. Never has an 'orchestral stab' effect on a keyboard been quite so abused. This is some modern heraldry-type shit. <br />
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And yes yes that was the pre-show as we are now getting a parade of fighters. Some familiar faces and some not familiar in the slightest (we assume the perspective of a person who has watched only UWF and no later shoot-style or real fighting). But all are here in the spirit of shoot-style and as such are blessed. <br />
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Of course being the Dome each entrance takes a while but the presentation is quite an effort on UWF's part here. Each entrance has an inset bio that sits next to a short training montage of each. Each montage gives us an insight into the preferred martial art of each combatant. One of them seems to be an accomplished amateur wrestler, for instance. But just on the whole, this is magnificent. UWF at its best.<br />
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The oration is done by Akira Maeda, whose own entrance was met with a booming unbridled joyousness that would later greet the arrival of someone like Stone Cold Steve Austin: it is rich in both volume and delight.<br />
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A female voice echoes through the darkness and it is only my strange familiarity with what is happening here that I make an educated guess that she is explaining the Different Style rules that are in effect for most of the evening. I could explain them here but the real difference is: rounds, not continuous fighting.<br />
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Our first combatant on the main show is <b>Changphuir Davey</b> (I have used this name because a couple of sites did but I think we have a Macduff Roesch situation here. I will keep it as Davey as i. it says that on his entrance jacket and ii. that is how I wrote initially but his real name is Changpuek Kiatsongrit or, if you like, <span lang="th">ช้างเผือก เกียรติทรงฤทธิ์</span>). I have no idea as to the accomplishments in the fighting realm of Davey, only to say that he certainly looks the business as someone who could, as far as I know, be cosplaying as a Muay Thai fighter. He wears the <i>mongkol</i>, the traditional Muay fighter's headband, and just before the fight itself the ram muay music plays as Davey performs a brief version of the traditional <i>wai kru</i> dance. This is great.<br />
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(and after some research using his real name, he is revealed to have <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Changpuek_Kiatsongrit">quite the fight record</a>) <br />
<br />
His opponent, <b>Yoji Anjo</b>, clad in purple leopard print and no boots for this evening, waits patiently and smugly in the corner. Davey removes his <i>mongkol</i> and a long and patient reminder of the rules in two different languages is undertaken centre-ring. Davey wears boxing gloves while Anjo does not. <br />
<br />
I recently read that Muay Thai fighters are often reasonably awesome at grappling and have cardio that would make most people weep (edit: I read this on a muay thai site so maybe not the most reliable source but I can also believe it!) and the opening section at least tells me half of that could be true as Anjo leaps at Davey, who raises a knee to wind Anjo before tossing him into the corner and assailing him with slugs.<br />
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Anjo clearly didn't read whatever it is I read as his strategy seems to be to get close and take advantage of the reduced motor skills of a man wearing gloves. Which is a reasonable strategy for a man trained in catch wrestling by Yoshiaki Fujiwara. There are some silent passages and patient measuring up but the action is frantic when it does occur. Anjo tries to pounce and Davey just kills him instead and it is pretty great actually. End of round one.<br />
<br />
Round two. Anjo catches a leg and Davey hops to the rope. Davey is smart and works near the rope, with the ocean of the ring in front of him in order to swing his elegant strikes, but with the safety of a rope break always within snatching distance. The pace is largely the same as in round one, though an extended ripple of excitement spreads through the stadium as Anjo nearly secures a facelock on a visibly-panicking Davey.<br />
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Anjo, being a mad bastard, trades strikes in round three. It sort of works as Davey switches to southpaw, winding up his educated left leg to attack Anjo through his lax defences. So far every round has been kinda the same: quietFRANTICSTRIKEGRAPPLEBREAKquiet but it's been a lot of fun.<br />
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Early in R4 Davey hits a ruinous rising knee to Anjo's midsection and then, a few seconds later, hits a pinpoint kick on the exact same spot. I wince even if Anjo does not. If Davey is pulling these kicks then he's a shoot-style natural. And if he's not then he just looks great. Either way, Maeda wins. Anjo seems to have abandoned his strategy in the main and is now banking on catching a kick. He nearly does late in the round and the crowd pop hugely. The round ends in a brawl broken up by the referee. Bah humbug.<br />
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Anjo looks as if he has been swimming such his the extent of his sweatiness. Davey bows at the start of the fifth round, so I guess this is the last one? The two pick up where they left off, in a great struggle on the ropes. They break and Davey dances across the ring and I truly mean he dances, it is the most graceful footwork I have seen on a fighter particularly in this context. Midway through my admiratory sentence Anjo finally gets Davey to the mat, although it is not a successful grapple attempt as he ends up on his back cowering from Davey's titanic punches.<br />
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The final minute contains some great sweaty strike flinging as a way of capping a fine draw. Davey and Anjo hug it out. Strangely there is a lot of booing at the conclusion of the match for reasons I am unsure of. The draw is officially announced and it is met with a mixed reaction. Fuck you guys. That was great.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.quebrada.net/videos/UWF2.html">Quebrada</a> agree with me and not the crowd:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>I expected this to be a work,
but if it was they sure as hell fooled me. Incredibly intense. Kiatsongrit looks
like he wants to injure his opponent with each shot. Anjo didn't have much luck
doing anything to him because Kiatsongrit stayed so close to the ropes. He would
wind up taking a few shots coming in so he could grap Kiatsongrit, but Kiatsongrit
would keep hitting him and use the ropes to prevent the takedown. It was kind
of monotonous, but so heated that it didn't bother me too much. Good fight.</i> </blockquote>
<br />
Future UFC Heavyweight Champion <b>Maurice Smith</b> is seen in inset moments before his UWF debut. He speaks over the montage of him running to the ring and throwing shadowpunches: <br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>I want to beat Suzuki with a knockout. Maybe it won't happen but I'll try my best to knock him out. He has a strong chin. But I'm gonna go for a knockout. </i></blockquote>
<br />
QUITE RIGHT MAURICE. Future King of Pancrase <b>Minoru Suzuki</b>, wearing a white headband that doesn't suit him at all because it makes him look like a shitty babyface when we know him to be the purest villain, runs to the ring in all white attire (which he would later callback in his Wrestle Kingdom bout with Kazushi Sakuraba). <br />
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Smith came to the ring without gloves but is now lacing a pair up as we see an inset graphic telling us that this is a 7 round contest, the first time I have heard of that upper limit being placed on a fight. Smith's cornerman is taking his sweet old time with these gloves. I hope Maeda shot on him later. Smith towers above Suzuki at the opening face-off before returning to slowcoach cornerman for a gum shield.<br />
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Smith ambles across the ring to commence the scrap. But what of his style, I hear you cry? Well, knowing not much, or at least pretending to for the affected ignorance I occasionally lapse into, Smith appears to be a kickboxer, possibly with some karate knowledge? Sport is amazing. Aesthetics make themselves known. I am not sure on the exact difference between Muay Thai and western kickboxing but Smith appears to be more of the latter, his hands held lower and much less involvement from his knees.<br />
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<i>(and as it turns out Smith is extensively storied in both kickboxing and karate)</i><br />
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Not a great lot happens in round one until Smith smashes in a series of strikes near the end of the round. Suzuki tries to make his own quite impressive techniques in catch wrestling known, but Smith surprises with a smothering grapple of his own. The crowd gasp as if to say "who is this magnificent man?" but further examination is curtailed by the ring bell.<br />
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Round two sees Suzuki busting through with palm strikes but Smith lets the blows glance off and carries on undisturbed. Somewhere in this opening parry, Smith has bust Suzuki's nose. Generally there is less of an equitable feel about proceedings here: Smith dominates. Underlining this, he puts Suzuki flat on his back with a brusque middle kick for a 9 count. When the match resumes, Smith again dominates Suzuki in a grapple by dint of his sheer size, ending the round atop Suzuki with his hands locked around his middle.<br />
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Smith gets another count on Suzuki in round three, who starts to look like he'd rather be at home. Blood pours out of his nose. Smith overmatches him again, wrapping his burly arms around Suzuki in a facelock attempt. Suzuki is on top but getting the life choked out of him and it takes an impressive scuttle to the ropes carrying the weight of Maurice Smith to break things up. Suzuki tries to stand up but can't and the referee starts counting him as he sells the effects of the choke. Smith dings Suzuki on his nose again with a straight right. Suzuki slumps against the ropes and takes another count and is saved by the bell. This is a demolition job by Smith.<br />
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A quiet start to round four, as Suzuki tries to size Smith up anew. It seems to work for a second as Suzuki catches a Smith kick. The resulting melee sees the pair tangled in the ropes and Suzuki falls fully to the mat outside. At the restart Smith kicks Suzuki on those nose and then puts him back onto the now-familiar mat for a count. Suzuki tries to get up and wears an anguished expression before wearily falling down in defeat. A good, if nearly completely one-sided, match. Suzuki is carried tearfully to the back. This show is off to quite the start!<br />
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They would later face each other twice in Pancrase, splitting the bouts. And if you're wondering whether this lifetime of beating each other up left any enmity between the two, this picture from this week shows quite the opposite.<br />
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Another new face comes to us: <b>Dick Leon Vrij</b>! Vrij, who looks like The Sandman pre-divorce ie. a bleach blonde close-cropped hulk, cuts a promo that was either in Dutch or just completely unintelligible. Vrij eventually makes himself fully known in Maeda's later gambit RINGS (written about extensively by TK Scissors) but here he is merely a disciple of fellow Dutchman and one-time appearer in UWF Chris Dolman.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vaElNBlkPTk/Wdv_39SlDSI/AAAAAAAADls/Qo8FvGNfg3QZo84bB3QFYJN2S6Si8ooAgCEwYBhgL/s1600/ucosmos07.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="454" data-original-width="607" height="298" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vaElNBlkPTk/Wdv_39SlDSI/AAAAAAAADls/Qo8FvGNfg3QZo84bB3QFYJN2S6Si8ooAgCEwYBhgL/s400/ucosmos07.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">look it's best if you just ignore the spellings</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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His opponent is better known to us in UWF land - catch grandfather <b>Yoshiaki Fujiwara</b>. But someone has pressed C-left on his character select screen as he is wearing red and yellow kickboxing shorts and is completely barefoot and for Fujiwara this is a crazy and outright bad look. Particularly next to Vrij who is a comparative colossus. Vrij looms beefily, throwing high kicks and at first this looks like complete madness. But quickly Fujiwara asserts his genius, grappling the young Vrij to earth easily.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">full murderstats</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Later in the round Fujiwara throws a kick and Vrij catches it and attempts to murder the shit out of our resident murderer and god this is just a dynamic we do not see anymore isn't it friends? I thirst for it. Even as I watched today's New Japan show, which was very good, I just thought that part of the problem is that these guys work too well with each other. Intense UWF-ing has coloured my expectations.<br />
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Fujiwara is fanned by a flunky with an orange towel before seconds out - round two! Vrij throws a kick and Fujiwara hangs onto it before Vrij slips away. Fujiwara shoots low and turns Vrij over for something nasty and leglockish on his Achilles and Vrij taps immediately! Wild!<br />
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Fujiwara hangs on for ages after the decision and Vrij's cornerman runs in and shoves Fujiwara off Vrij angrily and, to be honest, not unfairly. The two fighters eventually make nice as Fujiwara's name rings out through the stadium like a demi-god as is right and proper in my honest opinion. FOUR GREAT FIGHTS OUT OF FOUR!<br />
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The fifth fight sees the return of the aforementioned <b>Chris Dolman</b>, who lost on debut against none other than Akira Maeda, so no shame there to be quite frank.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">that is quite a fight record mate</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Dolman speaks:<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>I fought last weekend in Amsterdam against Bill Kazmaier, big strong man from USA, and I beat him in the second round.</i></blockquote>
What more can be said except to FEAR THE DOLMAN. His opponent is <b>Kazuo Yamazaki</b>, who appears in a plum-coloured gi (edit: thank you to <a href="http://twitter.com/YourKingMob">Twitter user @YourKingMob</a> who tells me this is in fact a kurtka, as worn by sambo competitors). This proves to be more than merely ceremonial as he does not remove this ahead of the match, which will also be contested over 7 rounds of 5 minutes apiece, which again is a new thing to me but this is exactly the point of Akira Maeda if you really get down to brass tacks. Dolman wears his red gi with blue tracksuit trousers and light amateur wrestling boots and we have quite the visual scene here in Tokyo.<br />
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Dolman is much bulkier than Yamazaki and this size differential allows him to close Yamazaki down and hurl him. Dolman takes centre-ring as Yamazaki tries to skid around and throw kicks but this Dolman character just looms mercilessly, catching kicks and then following through on the mat, echoing the complete dominance of Maurice Smith earlier. Even worse for Yamazaki, Dolman isn't wearing gloves, and displays the advantages of being able to slip through paper-thin cracks in the defence by dominating Yamazaki on the ground mid-round. To say Yamazaki gets nothing in round one would be unfair, but it wouldn't be too far off either.<br />
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I just noticed that the referee here isn't Japanese. He speaks American-accented English. Has this been the case all evening? I do not know.<br />
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Dolman swigs water in the corner ahead of round two, sharing the same angry cornerman as Vrij. Yamazaki gets a glimmer of a chance by shooting low on Dolman but the Dutchman is no fool and he tumbles Yamazaki forward, using his momentum against him, and nearly ends it right there. When they stand up, Dolman throws a surefire ippon but perhaps wallows in his dominance too long as Yamazaki nearly triangles the hell out of him from his position considering the lights. The crowd go ape for this development and are palpably deflated when Dolman gets out. This is where a sense of pro-wrestling style 'reading the crowd' would not go amiss. Dolman takes much of the remainder of the round, smothering Yamazaki in a Roy Nelson-esque manner.<br />
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Round three of a possible seven commences with a foiled Yamazaki parry. Yamazaki comes hard again and Dolman secures a standing choke and then takes Yamazaki down to earth and with a cross armbreaker for a solid and dominant win. One must feel for poor Yamazaki, but he is not a man for navel-gazing. Yamazaki raises Dolman's hand in triumph, his plum kurtka all ruffled and ruined. FIVE OUT OF FIVE though I guess this was the least interesting but still completely good.<br />
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Another new friend in the Dome and this one wears a lovely white tracksuit top and he goes by the name of <b>Duane Koslowski</b>. We hear from the 1988 USA Olympic team member who was, as many have been, hammered by the great Aleksandr Karelin.<br />
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<i>I will have to use my wrestling ability, which I have 12 years experience of, to overcome his karate to win this wrestling match.</i></blockquote>
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Well said he! Koslowski has been booked against <b>Nobuhiko Takada</b> which has a lot of potential inasmuch as Takada on current form (1989) could get a good match out of a divan. In news that favours perhaps nobody in particular: the rounds system has been banished for this match. <br />
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Koslowski wears the skimpy USA singlet beloved of American amateur wrestlers who have competed for their nation (and why not?) whilst Takada deploys his classic black trunks and kickpads attire. We hear an American cornerman chipping in advice to Koslowski - "that's it, make him work buddy, good good!" - in a way that is a mite wearing. "The more you do the less you'll have to do" is something we hear before Takada kicks Koslowski full steam in the head for a hilarious knockdown.<br />
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On the restart Kowslowski finally unearths his amateur pedigree, rocking Takada with a suplex and near-complete armbar attempt. Takada rolls through and it is Koslowski who needs a rope escape to break out. A second one is required a minute or so later when a Koslowski leglock attempt is similarly foiled. A third attempt is made by our new arrival and it is a much better one as Takada scoots to the rope for a break of his own. As punishment, Takada gets up and hoofs in a grim kick, sending Koslowski down in stages for a near knockout. It's a great sell.<br />
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Koslowski rides Takada a little, favouring the gutwrenches beloved of that amateur sport, but given that Takada's arms are waving around in the breeze awaiting to be seized upon it seems like the wrong move. Koslowski gets a chance to rectify this mistake when Takada practically offers up a juji-gatame after being thrown and this time our Olympian makes no mistake, until he does and Takada rolls through. Koslowski hits the ropes a third time and this one counts as a knockdown. 3-0 Takada by my scorecard. Five, remember, is a TKO.<br />
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"USA buddy!" says the obnoxious cornerman and I like Koslowski but I am rooting for Takada to wreck him now. This very thing starts happening as Takada buries Koslowski with kicks for a fourth knockdown. He is not defeating Takada's karate very well is he?<br />
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Some centre-ring grappling occurs and Koslowski finally doles out some punishment, impressively suplexing Takada and getting the progression on the ground. But Koslowski is high on his own farts and his arm is loose. Takada seizes upon it and cinches in a cross armbreaker. Koslowski taps and the magnanimous Corinthian spirit of the USA is defeated centre ring by the professional Japanese. SIX OUT OF SIX!<br />
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Headlining this glorious affair is <b>Wilhelmus Paul Karel "Willy" Wilhelm</b>, a Dutch judoka of serious repute (medals at World Championships, do not fuck with). In a full white Mizuno gi he emerges, looking a little portly, but with the comportment of a martial arts pro (centred, full of gravitas). Wilhelm speaks and it is badly recorded but he thinks he will see what Maeda is doing before winning with an armlock.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">ok ok that spelling error got me</td></tr>
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God man beast emperor lord king brahmin <b>Akira Maeda</b> enters flanked by Tatsuo Nakano (wearing a gorgeous red UWF sweater). The atmosphere is king-sized. Wilhelm and Maeda stare out centre-ring like Ultimate Warrior and Hulk Hogan at Wrestlemania VI (which was in this very year was it not?). 7 x 5 minute rounds potentially await this showdown of epic proportions.<br />
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Wilhelm charges first, backing Maeda up and then hurling him onto his back. The referee breaks them apart centre-ring which smells a bit bullshitty but maybe he threw him from within the ropes so maybe it was okay. Wilhelm twice more moves forward to grapple and Maeda backs off into the ropes. Frustrated, Wilhelm goes wrong, and Maeda ends up atop him and cranking on his neck. But Wilhelm does not panic and calmly makes the ropes.<br />
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Maeda attempts to out-judo Wilhelm but the Dutch veteran just collapses atop Maeda's attempt and attempts to make progress with groundwork. As judo it might make sense but as pro-wrestling it is a little aimless, partly because Maeda makes little attempt to sell the significance of what Wilhelm is trying out here. On standing the venerable Wilhelm taunts Maeda in a pro-wrestling style, goading Maeda to come forward. The stadium becomes unglued as Maeda flurries away rabidly. His enthusiasm isn't matched by talent and Wilhelm ends the round atop Maeda and threatening a full-service armbar.<br />
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Round two commences with Wilhelm using his huskiness to block Maeda. Wilhelm throws but Maeda scurries through and ends up on top. Maeda throws kicks, attacking Wilhelm's legs, and again the stadium explodes in joy. Maeda grabs Wilhelm's injured leg and applies a cross kneelock. Wilhelm performs the greatest act of selling in UWF history thus far, yelling in pain for a few seconds, before tapping out. Maeda wins lol and on such a stage as this it is a miracle.<br />
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Credits roll with a photomontage. That's your lot. See ya!<br />
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While perhaps this did not have one completely blow-away match, it did have seven really good ones and as such I have no hesitation in calling this the best UWF show to date.<br />
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Akira Maeda is left to dream of what could be.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"what if I did this...all the time?"</td></tr>
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<b>NEXT</b>: a brief hiatus, but I think I'll buy the remaining shows before the year is out. Until then - watch Inoki's ISM show in a couple of weeks!</div>
D. Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14629124673589292567noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6812605115270563531.post-85353642280475857912017-10-03T14:07:00.000-07:002017-10-04T02:32:02.601-07:00UWF 25/10/1989 - FIGHTING ART (18/31)<b>UWF Fighting Art</b><br />
Sports Centre, Nakajima<br />
25th October 1989<br />
att. 5600<br />
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To go 'inside the curtain' (which is the meaning of the top division in sumo known as <i><b>Makuuchi</b></i> <span style="font-weight: normal;">(<span lang="ja">幕内</span>), referring to the roped-off area these champion athletes would wait in prior to performance, I believe 'curtain' is 'maku' as the third tier is 'makushita', meaning 'beneath the curtain'. Watch sumo, it is excellent</span>) momentarily this is the show that I had feared watching the most ahead of time for reasons that will become, hopefully, apparent during the writing of this entry.</div>
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And to go even further inside that curtain like, perhaps, ha ha (<i>does knowing cultural studies lecturer positional adjustment</i>) the recent season of <i>Twin Peaks </i>(imo serious ten out of ten bestoftelly thanks) this entry reverts to the initial style of watching the show and sort-of remembering it which is sometimes stylistically more satisfying but perhaps less involved and perhaps emotionally and factually false. We shall see, won't we? (EDIT: I wrote this intro way before I watched it and eventually I managed to get to a point where I could live-type the edition, rendering this paragraph mostly redundant except aesthetically which is to say not redundant at all)</div>
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Aaaand over we go to a nicely Balearic-vibed montage of the streets around the venue that cuts to the FIGHTING ART graphic and then a more serious and urgent musical tone is struck behind the visual of lots of UWF dudes working out with varying degrees of intent (Yoshiaki Fujiwara looks reasonably bored and this possibly explains his eternal dad bod). Some highlights of what we're about to see are played but from a low angled camera as if to suggest the experience YOU could be having if you were watching these kickers, submissioners, and suplexers up close.</div>
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The traditional parade is next and OH NO Masakatsu Funaki has his arm in a sling so I am guessing he will not be taking part on this evening. Minoru Suzuki eschews the UWF tracksuit that literally everyone else is wearing, subtly suggesting his part in the schisms in the excellent world of shoot-style wrestling (and, whilst most schisms have a diluting effect, the early 90s actually opened up the door to a lot more guys in shoot-style who were also really quite excellent, so I guess UWF's loss is more-or-less everyone else's gain). The UWF track jacket is black and gold while Suzuki stands there in a white hoody and it is quite a lol, look.</div>
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Oration time: Kiyoshi Tamura takes the mic and both sentences he utters are punctuated with a respectful bow and a cheer. That is your talking for tonight.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">THE HOLY CHILD</td></tr>
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Straight into match one without any ceremony whatsoever. <b>Mark Rush</b> aka Macduff Roesch returns, clad in a black trouser with lime green side panel and white Asics, takes on <b>Shigeo Miyato</b> in Tiger Mask trunk-over-trousers (but purple where Tiger Mask had blue). Silence greets their opening grapples all the way to the 3 minute mark where Miyato makes the ropes for a break. More tentative grappling occurs before Miyato drives a straight knee into Rush's abdomen. It looks nasty but the crowd still barely make a peep.<br />
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Rush appears on his game through the opening 5 minutes, dropping a small but impressive array of catch and amateur techniques, while Miyato is colourless until he makes an occasional flurry of strikes that don't really trouble. The intensity is not great here but at least they're showing some kind of progression and movement in their attacks. Miyato makes a second rope break after being caught in a lazy half crab. All the crowd have reacted to in the slightest is a workmanline hurl from Rush. Coughing is audible.<br />
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Ten minutes in and I'm admiring Rush's body rather than the match which I guess is like a more natural Arn Anderson (he is also balding and has facial hair so this is possibly influential) and that is pretty much a great look for a guy to have not just as a midcard wrestler in the late 80s but as a dude just hanging out in life. I'm also open to the notion that Shigeo Miyato might be, and it hurts me to say this, a pretty bland worker. No sooner do I write that and he throws a couple of intense strikes. But Miyato often does a whole bunch of nothing before his 'big moments' so this helps rather than harms my case.<br />
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Side control from Rush converts to a rest hold of a kesa gatame that Miyato gets back to standing from before forcing Rush down in a waki-gatame attempt that the crowd react to, and then keep reacting when Rush lurches Miyato around and back into kesa-gatame. There's a series of exhibition-style reversals - back to waki-gatame, then a side headlock - before standing and trading strikes.<br />
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On fifteen minutes Rush scoops Miyato over his shoulder and walks around a bit before dropping Miyato in a nothing move that the crowd are reasonably hostile toward. A sleeper attempt by Miyato ends up broken as Rush pushes him back into the ropes, leading to an awkward tangle that looks actually quite cool. It leads to aimlessness and sagging though a third Miyato rope break becomes a DOWN and thus the illusion of some kind of structure remains intact. This is currently unexciting, people.<br />
<br />
On around 19 minutes it gets reasonably better as Rush has a kick caught but throws a kick with his standing leg and then follows in on Miyato for another near knockdown. Miyato stumblebums around a lot like he's caught in a tremor and then Rush chases back in for a real knockdown. After Miyato gets up, Rush floors him again, making the score a full 3 knockdowns for Miyato and zero for Rush. The crowd waken up at this flurry of exciting action. Miyato back suplexes Rush and it is game on!<br />
<br />
The knockdowns impart a bit of tension that was wholly lacking from the outset. The grappling now seems to have more intent and consequence. Rush makes the ropes for a third time, converting to a knockdown and bringing Miyato toward parity. Rush does some impressive rolling and movement stuck in a head scissor, humourously trying a kip up before rolling his dome on the mat in order to change angle and escape.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
Inside the last three minutes (if I heard the ring announcer correctly) Miyato scores big with some overhand rights for a knockdown. Rush takes a full nine count but immediately goes on the attack. His leglock on the ground requires Miyato to rope break for his fourth DOWN and with a minute to go it feels like only Rush can win this. Miyato's defensive strategy is the best one: he attacks, kicking and then grasping onto Rush's neck to try and execute a choke in the dying seconds. The rolling sole butt Miyato is contractually obliged to deliver occurs and Rush takes a third knockdown. Rush gets up and time expires. DRAW! A perfect match to join in the last 12-15 minutes, AJPW compilation style. <br />
<br />
Zero hype ahead of match two between <b>Yoji Anjo</b> (purple leopardprint trousers) and <b>Minoru Suzuki</b> (blue trunks) and I mean that in both the sense that it is the second match of the night and the second match between Anjo & Suzuki. The first, at Core The First Anniversary, was a decent bout that Anjo won inside 20 minutes but <a href="http://kicksubmissionsuplex.blogspot.co.uk/2017/07/uwf-14041989-core-first-anniversary-0931.html">my write-up of said</a> took something of a backseat as I ruminated at pointless length about UWF's influence on breakaway promotions in Japan.<br />
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<br />
Suzuki dominates the grapple-heavy opening minute or so. There's something happening just in this one section where Suzuki is trying for a simple kesa-gatame. Anjo is resisting in a way where he is also going for his own opening, so Suzuki is hesitating but also trying to get the technique locked in. Contrast this with Rush & Miyato, where grapples flowed more like pro-wrestling and didn't have that struggling sense where over-commitment might lead to self-owning. Both methods can be fine, of course, but it is just very noticeable here.<br />
<br />
Tellingly for this promotion, the crowd are a lot more invested in the micro-level of Anjo and Suzuki's chess game than they were Miyato & Rush's procession. Anjo has notional top control but is caught in a wristlock, so he is trying to knee Suzuki 'off' even though Suzuki is on the bottom. It trusts the audience and their watching skills so much more but they are totally getting this. <br />
<br />
But there's no doubt between the intense moments they are not moving at light speed in there. The drama and expression is more judiciously chosen. The struggling makes the match messy and in turn it gives it a greater sense of realism. Anjo catches Suzuki's legs as he is on his back, but Suzuki fires a slap as Anjo juts his jaw out too far.<br />
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<br />
Nearing fifteen minutes and there's no sense of any dominance. No rope-breaks are made and no knockdowns have been scored. It's been a lot of struggling and hella heavy on the cardio. Suzuki catches Anjo in a scoop much like Rush did Miyato, but Suzuki's next step is simultaneously more devastating and attractive as he throws a nice suplex that Anjo tucks in time to avoid ending up dead. A strike exchange gets hearts fluttering. Suzuki then slaps Anjo into next week with a sickening sound. The building explodes for the first time, confirming that they are there, paying attention, and not badly-mic'd. Anjo wriggles out of a choke and then sprints across the ring to demolish Suzuki with a kick for a knockdown and all of a sudden this match went from decent new-wave catch to really good for anyone with eyes.<br />
<br />
Anjo takes a third rope break converted into a knockdown to go level at 1-1, and then Anjo goes behind as he recovers badly into a Suzuki dropkick that plants him fully into the corner. It feels like they're going long but the time is being eaten up well. Anjo forces Suzuki into a rope break and then cheekily hangs onto his legs to try and get a quick submission. The referee is like "yeah nice try buddy" and they go back to standing. Anjo gets German suplexed but instead of being disheartened Anjo does that cool thing Miyato did a bunch of shows ago where he rolls through into a waki-gatame. Suzuki makes the ropes and that one adds up to another knockdown. They go back to standing and Suzuki catches a kick (for the 152453rd time, let someone kick you once mate) but Anjo forces Suzuki downward and into another rope break.<br />
<br />
Just as it feels Anjo is taking over like he did back in April (of 1989) Suzuki capitalises on complacency for a neat-looking rear naked choke. Anjo comes flailing out but Suzuki catches him head between legs and...he's not going to is he?...he is! PILEDRIVER. Not Gotch-style, but effective. Knockdown! Anjo gets up on 9 and then knocks Suzuki straight back down and maybe this one is going to be over before time elapses? Either way they're killing it right now. <br />
<br />
The last few minutes are a compression of the general themes established in the match, with Anjo going to a fourth knockdown in the final minute. They throw wild slaps and try and take the whole thing home in one brilliantly ugly moment, but neither man can force the finish. 30:00 elapses, the match is ruled a draw, but this time the crowd are like THIS FEELS LIKE FAIR RECOMPENSE FOR OUR TIME rather than LOL MAEDA THANKS. The two shake hands but Anjo is like "I'll do you next time mate". <br />
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<br />
Probably the best broadway in UWF so far! These two matches right at the top of the card going an hour between them were the reason that on paper I was not exactly dying to review this show. But Anjo-Suzuki did proportionally far more in their 30 minutes here than they did in under 20 back in April and you can begin to see why this was a classic feud for life.<br />
<br />
The hovering-around-the-middle <b>Kazuo Yamazaki</b> takes on the rising <b>Tatsuo Nakano</b> (he got a real hearty cheer at the parade, I neglected to mention that) in bout three. The time limit is 45 minutes and god I hope they don't use it. The opening moments suggest that they won't as Nakano drills in a kick and Yamazaki throws uranage and I can sense this one is going to be good and yes yes there I am right Yamazaki just boots the fuck out of Nakano on the floor and the crowd are like HOW VERY DARE HE IS A GOOD CHRISTIAN MAN.<br />
<br />
Incredible bit as Nakano i. catches a kick ii. slaps Yamazaki in the face and iii. dragon screws him. Sadly Nakano is not a man of the ground and Yamazaki converts this triple insult into a dominant position that Nakano is forced to wriggle from. They stand and Nakano feints to grapple and throws kicks and slaps. This thuggish metier is perfect for this squat fireplug of a man and I am very much enjoying Nakano Newborn.<br />
<br />
But of course Yamazaki is a past master of these parts and when he starts stamping on Nakano's stricken head in the way that you may recall Shinsuke Nakamura did to Kota Ibushi at the Wrestle Kingdom one whole year before Nakamura's slide into a protacted period of utter irrelevance in WWE. I digress when I should simply praise Yamazaki's stamping.<br />
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<br />
Some quiet grappling takes the temperature down before Yamazaki downs Nakano with a kick. Nakano bullishly strides back into the fray but Yamazaki is ready for quitting time: he suplexes Nakano atop his noggin and then hits a cross armbreaker to finish the match thrillingly at around the seven minute mark. Good quick match and the two hug it out at the end.<br />
<br />
And now for something completely different as <b>Akira Maeda</b> reaches downcard, past his usual opponents at the top end or highly-curated foreign shooters of varying reputes, to give the guy at the very bottom a chance to come at the king. <b>Kiyoshi Tamura</b>'s UWF and professional wrestling record reads 0-3 while Akira Maeda has lost only once in UWF and not at all in 1989 so you would not be an idiot for thinking that this one is a complete foregone conclusion.<br />
<br />
Tamura is interviewed. He is mild-mannered and quiet. Maeda is interviewed in his classic 3/4 repose. He seems confident. A 60 minute time limit is allocated for this semi-final bout and we now move to an analysis of this historical moment in ten second chunks.<br />
<br />
<b>PREMATCH</b><br />
A handshake, both men back into their corner<br />
<br />
<b>0.00-0.10</b><br />
Tamura scuttles toward Maeda and throws big overhand slaps, backing Maeda up, though Maeda grabs a headlock.<br />
<br />
<b>0.11-0.20</b><br />
Tamura is undaunted and he keeps going and Maeda is covering up! The crowd are exploding! Tamura throws a kick but Maeda catches it and forces Tamura to the ground.<br />
<br />
<b>0.21-0.30</b><br />
Threatening a leglock, Tamura finds his bearings and scuttles toward the ropes. Maeda looms near threatening to kick the stricken young lion but the referee backs him up.<br />
<br />
<b>0.31-0.40</b><br />
Tamura sells in a neutral corner while Maeda stalks.<br />
<br />
<b>0.41-0.50</b><br />
Both throw kicks at the same time but Maeda's legs are longer so his is the one that hits. Tamura remains game but becomes significantly less so when Maeda grabs him around the head and hits two utterly cruel knees to the body.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-A5O3_SyH28E/WdP6B_TvpsI/AAAAAAAADkY/QQdoF-voIa4xIigwaDktaChjdBKoWq9rwCLcBGAs/s1600/fart11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="370" data-original-width="587" height="251" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-A5O3_SyH28E/WdP6B_TvpsI/AAAAAAAADkY/QQdoF-voIa4xIigwaDktaChjdBKoWq9rwCLcBGAs/s400/fart11.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">this match in a .jpg</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<b>0.51-1.00</b><br />
Grim. Maeda's knee barrage keeps up but this time he goes to the head of Tamura, who now seems like a kid tasked with trying to defeat a man. The final knee puts Tamura on the mat for a count.<br />
<br />
<b>1.01-1.10</b><br />
9 count. Tamura puts up his dukes and the crowd scream YAYAYAYAYAYAY and tbh I feel the same but I also think "stay down kid".<br />
<br />
<b>1.11-1.20</b><br />
Maeda lurches in. Grabs Tamura's head. Sick knee. Tamura crumples. Merciless.<br />
<br />
<b>1.21-1.30</b><br />
9 count. Tamura puts up his dukes and now the crowd are mixed between YAYAYAYAYAYAYAY and "stay down kid". Maeda lurches in and judos Tamura over onto his back<br />
<br />
<b>1.31-1.40</b><br />
A couple of different positions on the ground from Maeda, completely smothering Tamura, who grimaces. Tamura makes the ropes and the crowd, sadists that they are, cheer.<br />
<br />
<b>1.41-1.50</b><br />
Tamura stays down and takes a count. He's up to 4 by the end of this segment. It's his third down. Not looking good!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">stay down Rocky</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<b>1.51-2.00</b><br />
Count goes to six. Tamura decides he's better going forward so he throws a dropkick. Maeda just stands there and no sells it completely. Utter indifference. He then goes straight back on the attack and we end this ten seconds with Tamura in a world of shit.<br />
<br />
<b>2.01-2.10</b><br />
Four straight knees by Maeda, each rougher than the last, as Tamura cowers under this barrage. As he crumples to the mat Maeda throws a kick. Four downs for Tamura. Will he get up?<br />
<b><br />2.11-2.19</b><br />
No. The referee has seen enough. Not since Tatsuo Nakano pretzelled Tsunehito Naito in 1988 has a young lion been so thoroughly declawed.<br />
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<br />
Maeda lingers over Tamura and seems to say something that adds insult to injury before clambering out of the ring. Christ. Great match!<br />
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Everybody's favourite Croatian occasional misanthrope GOTNW has reviewed this 'bout' on <a href="http://prowrestlingonly.com/index.php?/topic/37269-kiyoshi-tamura-vs-akira-maeda-uwf-fighting-art-102589/">Prowrestlingonly</a> (as has one other person, if you want to check the thread) and his words are worth sharing:</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>This just might be the peak of wrestling bruality. As neat as punhes,
chops, kicks, headbutts and so on can look, none of them really convey
the sense of horror Maeda hitting Tamura with full force muy thai knees
does. Tamura's desperate flurries ruled, but the best thing he did in
the entire match was probably the down where he wasn't hit, but simply
couldn't get up after getting a rope break. It is kind of insane to do
this type of match, where a former yakuza beats up a young boy so bad
he's out for a year, but it makes for an unmatchable spectacle of
violence. <b>****</b></i></blockquote>
</div>
Out for a year. Jesus.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
In the main event we have <b>Nobuhiko Takada</b>, who seems largely immune to bad matches, and <b>Yoshiaki Fujiwara</b>, who largely has been until his absolute stinker last time out. Very brief interviews from both men and we throw straight to the match with a near-absence of ceremony.<br />
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<br />
The opening grapples seems to play up the dynamic well: Takada is larger and stronger, but Fujiwara is a grappling expert, and as such the two things largely cancel out. There's more intensity here than in the entirely of Fujiwara's last bout against Funaki (and now I see Funaki's bad arm I think they could have been protecting that to a certain degree? It would make sense). Fujiwara fights against Takada's brutalist judo but Takada woah this man is like an ox and he just lurches Fujiwara over.<br />
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<br />
But grounding Fujiwara as we should know by know is not a guarantor of success and in fact is actually more likely that unless you assert complete dominance over this grandfather of grappling you will actually be the one in trouble. And so it proves. Takada gets things back to standing where he at least has a better chance but his throw attempt ends up with him on his back and Fujiwara looking for his arm in a dastardly way. Good so far!<br />
<br />
Look at this position here. Takada is on top but Fujiwara is just like "ok give it your best shot buddy" and to be fair Takada seems to be quite near a kimura and then a sankaku-jime but Fujiwara has just been biding his time before revealing his plan: a rough as fuck leg lock that sends Takada flying to the ropes before the worst can happen. They go back to standing and Takada is pissed at all of this and he throws kicks, rattled by spite.<br />
<br />
Oh woah Fujiwara just threw what looked like harai-goshi but I am actually not as down with judo what with not having taken to the tatami in 18 years and Neil Adams being a terrible commentator who names things incorrectly and sometimes just says something real general like "great sutemi-waza there" which is the name for sacrifice techniques but also quite unspecific. As I look up from this diatribe I see Takada has been knocked down and is hulking up and chasing Fujiwara with low kicks to his weird pencil legs. <br />
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<br />
Woah insane takedown by Fujiwara, like a low key flying entry into a toe hold or something insane like that, this guy is just wild. They end up back standing and another low kick by Takada sends Fujiwara to earth for a down. Fujiwara has no issue getting up but Takada is on the march and dishing out strikes like they're going out of fashion. Fujiwara is in the corner but often he shines here and this is no exception, reversing the position and throwing strikes of his own. It's quite pro-wrestling in execution but given all that has gone before, with muay thai knees and two thirty minute grapple excursions, it is nice to come down to earth.<br />
<br />
Fujiwara dominates a flinty groundwork exchange, finishing with Takada making the rope caught in a crossface. The intensity shows as both are sweating profusely but still going at high levels. Takada slugs Fujiwara down with a high kick for a third down, but at the resumption Fujiwara cannily kicks Takada in his knee ligaments to get the score back to 3-2. I read recently that TK Scissors felt indifferently about the DOWN system but I have to say I think that it's made UWF a whole different - and better - beast. Of course it risks becoming a way of formulaically structuring matches, but when Takada lances Fujiwara with a slap for a DOWN I am fully in the moment and not thinking of formula.<br />
<br />
Fujiwara gets revenge immediately, taking Takada down with one of his rough headbutts. Takada tries to finish the job at 4-3 but Fujiwara catches Takada flush to level the score. The crowd scream blue murder in the final moments as both look for that final blow, which comes at Takada's hand. Fujiwara is only knocked down momentarily, and seems to recover immediately, but the referee calls it a knockdown and Takada wins in just north of 17 minutes in a thriller! The ending, I guess, is designed to keep Fujiwara looking like a tough nut. But no such effect is necessary if you just use your eyes.<br />
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The two hug it out and some post-match interviews featuring a lot of beaded sweat and panting are played in a sorrowful black and white. Thanks! We've been UWF.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
A really good show in the end. Two x 30 minute bouts at the top of the card is quite daunting but the whole show flies by. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>NEXT</b>: the spiritual forerunner to RINGS at the Tokyo Dome.</div>
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D. Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14629124673589292567noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6812605115270563531.post-12674738656862323032017-09-19T12:55:00.000-07:002017-09-21T05:17:33.300-07:00UWF 07/09/1989 - FIGHTING BASE NAGANO (15/31)<div class="tr_bq">
<b>UWF Fighting Base Nagano</b></div>
Movement Park Gymnasium, Nagano<br />
7th September 1989<br />
att. 4500<br />
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We have business to attend to before we get to the UWF. Please look at your agendas which I emailed to you on the 11th.</div>
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First agenda item: within the context of your screen please look to the right hand side underneath the section marked "shootstyle annals" and gaze upon a new addition to the world of blogs about this under-theorised area of professional wrestling: <a href="http://kingdomofshoot.blogspot.co.uk/">Kingdom of Shoot</a>! This, as the name suggests, covers the short-lived promotion of UWF demi-doyen Nobuhiko Takada. Entry #1 (and #2, since writing this introduction way before the remainder of the entry) has gone up and I implore you to learn of its ways.</div>
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Second agenda item: Antonio Inoki, the ur-Maeda, has announced the second card for his ISM promotion. What is ISM? The real story is lost in the scrambling waves of the kayfabe and translation processes. Let us just say that it is Inoki's replacement for his IGF endeavour in mind, body, and soul. Here is the card, courtesy of <a href="http://purolove.com/">purolove.com</a>:<br />
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<a name='more'></a></div>
<blockquote>
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>ISM "INOKI ISM.2 ~ ANTONIO INOKI SEIZEN-SO*", 21.10.2017 </b></span></span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /><b>Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan</b> </span></span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />1. <b>Karl Gotch Cup 2017 - Semi Final:</b> Shinichi Suzukawa vs. Diego Anraku </span></span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />2. <b>Karl Gotch Cup 2017 - Semi Final:</b> Ryuta Sakurai vs. "brother" YASSHI </span></span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />3. Rocky Kawamura & Max the Body vs. Taka Kunou & Ryuta Hasumi </span></span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />4. Montanha Silva vs. Hammerstone </span></span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />5. <b>Muay Thai Pinweight Match:</b> Nadaka Yoshinari vs. Segai Latchianon (sp?) </span></span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />6. <b>Karl Gotch Cup 2017 - Final:</b> </span></span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />7. Scott Norton vs. Peter Aerts </span></span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">-.<br /><b>Inoki Gekijo:</b> Stan Hansen, Tiger Jeet Singh, Don Frye, Yoshiaki Fujiwara, etc. </span></span></blockquote>
So to be clear:<br />
<ul>
<li>'Seizen-so' transliterates as 'living funeral at request of the person'. I have no idea what the intent of this usage is but I don't want to know because <i>this is the greatest thing anyone has ever called a wrestling show.</i></li>
<li>Several top superstars of yore will be there. As pallbearers?</li>
<li>Shinichi Suzukawa was the ace of Simon Inoki's IGF-offshoot promotion NEW earlier this year. This reeks of Inoki family beef.</li>
<li>Diego Anraku is an MMA fighter with a 2-3 record, compiled mostly in the Legend promotion.</li>
<li>Ryuta Sakurai is an MMA fighter with a 25-24 record, and was featured at the 1996 Lumax Cup, that venerable treasure beloved of all shoot fans pre-Zuffa era UFC.</li>
<li>"brother" YASSHI is basically an indy sleaze guy who was part of the AJPW stable Voodoo Murders who nearly SHOOT (voodoo) murdered a guy. Please remember he is in the Karl Gotch Cup, a trophy dedicated to someone who was pre-eminent in the field of classically-informed real wrestling.</li>
<li>We'll skip the tag match but rest-assured it is pretty consistent with the aesthetic.</li>
<li>Montanha Silva is a former K1 kickboxer with a mediocre professional record, Hammerstone is an indy wrestler who generally works on the US west coast.</li>
<li>Bout #5 is a strange one. Nadaka Yoshinari is the World Muay Thai Council (WMC) Pinweight champion. Official rules of the WMC state that one must be 15 to compete in a Muay Thai fight, though Pinweight is not listed as an adult division. Pinweight is a special division open for under-15s. Inoki is booking a shoot scrap between children.</li>
<li>The main event pits Inoki-era New Japan powerhouse Scott Norton (who has gotten out of the house a lot this year but is not in prime shape) against Dutch kickboxing ace Peter Aerts.</li>
</ul>
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In short: this show sounds <i><b>incredible</b></i>. We may write about it.<br />
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There is a third agenda item but we shall cease footling about for the present and press ahead with the event at hand.<br />
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Sparse and pensive chords lead us in to a black and white photomontage of the two wrestlers in our headline performance (I shall keep it a secret) before giving way to a colourful and energetic synth bass as the same wrestlers jog around a bit, now in full colour.<br />
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The opening parade occurs and each wrestler's individual entrance is intercut with a shot of the worker in action in the past to sum up why you should give a shit about them. So for instance when you see Kazuo Yamazaki there is a shot of him booting someone in the head really hard and stylishly, which is kind of the perfect way to sum Yamazaki up.<br />
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Yoshiaki Fujiwara is out in a full UWF black and gold tracksuit and I'd probably pay £200 for the jacket alone. Got one for sale? Leave a message at the bottom.<br />
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One of Fujiwara's students, Minoru Suzuki, here a green young wrestler not quite as over as most of the UWF roster, takes the opening oration. Strange. The crowd are into it though.<br />
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Our opening bout is an instant rematch from last month as <b>Shigeo Miyato</b> takes on the frankly seminal <b>Kiyoshi Tamura</b>. Miyato won that reasonably good match in 9 minutes, with Tamura never really in the picture aside from a couple of neat flurries. Here Tamura gets to exhibit some of the solid kicks and lightning-fast ground game he would delight audiences in the 1990s with - which is cool and in glimpses you get this feeling of seeing something that one day will truly flourish (he does his flying entry to juji-gatame again and the crowd delight, it really is a delight). Let us look at it.<br />
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But this outing is just a learning experience for the red-trunked boy warrior and the result comes in just over half the speed it took Miyato to win last time. A perfunctory rolling sole butt, a belly-to-belly suplex, and a chickenwing armlock secures the quick win for Miyato. But it is Tamura and his stylishness that lingers in the mind in this otherwise so-so opener.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-iUhXUYTJ3HQ/WcFvFy4U0yI/AAAAAAAADho/oWUDR7zm7V4bKYBuypyi9axMaiA90fbEwCEwYBhgL/s1600/nagano04.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="430" data-original-width="560" height="306" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-iUhXUYTJ3HQ/WcFvFy4U0yI/AAAAAAAADho/oWUDR7zm7V4bKYBuypyi9axMaiA90fbEwCEwYBhgL/s400/nagano04.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">pls come back soon</td></tr>
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<b>Kazuo Yamazaki</b> rolls downcard to fight in the second bout against the rising <b>Minoru Suzuki</b>, which presents quite a tasty match-up on paper. Suzuki shows a UWF crowd the first real glimpse of the glorious shithead heel he would become, slapping Yamazaki right at the suggested handshake to a huge boo from the crowd. This wakes Yamazaki up to the prospect of a real fight, but his over-emotive early hard middle kick gets scouted by the wily Suzuki, who takes the match to the ground.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Gkt3tXpUGcQ/WcFwqXEMbxI/AAAAAAAADiI/aKOvGlv-eTkJxNvH1X0GE2-o5YJIcZDIgCLcBGAs/s1600/nagano10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="414" data-original-width="484" height="341" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Gkt3tXpUGcQ/WcFwqXEMbxI/AAAAAAAADiI/aKOvGlv-eTkJxNvH1X0GE2-o5YJIcZDIgCLcBGAs/s400/nagano10.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">such impudence</td></tr>
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Suzuki takes a portion of slightly aimless groundwork before releasing and both return to stand-up. Yamazaki drops his arms, encouraging Suzuki to swing for him. When Suzuki gets close, Yamazaki slashes a kick in but again Suzuki has studied tapes, he gets what this guy is about! Suzuki catches the kicking leg and dispatches Yamazaki headlong, throwing a great capture suplex.<br />
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If Yamazaki can take any heart it is in that Suzuki is struggling to make it pay on the ground. Every time the bout goes matward, Yamazaki finds a way to recapture the vertical. Some standing grappling sees an exchange of shoot headbutts that would make Dave Meltzer knock off several half stars, particularly the final one in the sequence where Yamazaki puts Suzuki down for a short count.<br />
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Once again Suzuki catches Yamazaki's kicks, which by now seem like a silly strategy from the latter. Yamazaki thinks he can enziguri out of the position as many have done before him and will continue to do so (a classic spot of wrestling) but Suzuki scouts that out too and Yamazaki ends up eating mat and having his leg crabbed viciously. It's not going well for Yamazaki here! He grimaces and makes the ropes.<br />
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Yamazaki gets up and throws a wild kick that misses and ends up headbutted twice toward the ropes and then powered over in a rope-assisted ogoshi. Mad with the continuous humiliation from this kid, Yamazaki gets up, throws a sick German suplex and then kicks Suzuki in the head and wins by KO in his first real continuous attack of the match some 11 minutes in. Despite Suzuki's callousness at the outset, Yamazaki finds it in his heart to shake his opponent by the hand and perhaps offer some friendly words of advice.<br />
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The increasingly-popular <b>Yoji Anjo</b> takes on the already-popular <b>Nobuhiko Takada</b> in the third match as a tease for a contest that would repeat a fair few times in UWF-I and presumably Kingdom. As I said during the last entry - it feels like there has been a definite evolution in UWF's style with far fewer lengthy bouts of groundwork that progress dutifully to a striking portion that finishes with a stretch of suplexes. Everything on the card so far has been shorter, punchier, and a little more varied. Anjo and Takada maintain that trend, with the smaller Anjo circling and looking for kicks as Takada looks to ruthlessly exploit errors with his rough-hewn judo and grappling.<br />
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Anjo outgrapples Takada a while but when they return to standup Takada is just entirely without mercy throwing big kicks that send Anjo into the ropes, searching for a hiding place. Anjo, to his credit, keeps the pressure on, always looking for ways to take Takada down with technique and speed. On the ground itself, Anjo has more of the intensity of a seminar than a match, and no one really buys that he might actually get a juji-gatame on Takada, let alone beat him with one.<br />
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The nine minutes that lead to Takada's win by a sleeper that comes out of Anjo losing a submission of his own are not unpleasant and indeed matches the dynamics of what has come before, as an established name ultimately triumphs against a lower-ranked opponent who gets to look good in their defeat. Though in this case Takada walks off and leaves Anjo laying in the ring after the bell.<br />
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So far the show has generally felt mostly like a solid house show rather than one with any genuine intrigue or challenge to the hierarchy of UWF.<br />
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---<br />
Agenda item three is the long-running project of this blog as we return briefly to a passage I have translated detailing Akira Maeda's time in Britain as a graduate of the New Japan dojo.<br />
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<i>Dear Mother,</i><br />
<br />
<i>I am writing to you from Bolton, England. Today some of the wrestlers took me to a football game. There were no goals scored. It rained as we stood in the open air. The jacket Inoki-san told me to buy is now ruined. It is supposed to be springtime.</i><br />
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<i>Tonight I fight the American Crusher Brannigan. This is what they have been building toward for many months and in many newspapers. He is big but he is very stupid and like all of the Americans he has not studied serious wrestling. He is an actor. Every day feels like an insult. This insult will be on television. I am glad that you will never see it.</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>I will be home in the summer to see everybody. But I return with a sigh and a heavy heart, knowing that they enjoy my wrestling and are very glad to have me back later in the year.</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>Yours,<br />Akira-kun</i></blockquote>
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---<br />
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The returning <b>Johnny Barrett</b> speaks ahead of his match in the semi-final:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>What I think about Maeda is that he's similar to Takada, he kicks a lot, he's very strong standing on his feet. For me to win I have to take him off his feet, that's my best counter, and wrestle him on the mat and get him into a submission hold, not standing up, that's what it's going to take to beat Maeda.</i></blockquote>
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<b>Akira Maeda</b> is interviewed next, wearing a black vest and pouting a lot. He is not known for his prolixity so we throw back to Barrett again:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>What I do for training is I lift weights, I run, lot of sit ups, lot of squats, get myself into shape condition-wise, you need to be more conditioned in there than you do be strong, that's what I do to get in shape for UWF...and Maeda.</i></blockquote>
Maeda speaks again and he looks like he could not give two fucks about this goofball and his regime.<br />
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Barrett has shed the Texas singlet and has gone for the all-pink Jim Neidhart style vest and trousers, the chief difference being black trainers and kickpads as opposed to those sweet white/pink/black boots beloved of the Hart Foundation.<br />
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Both throw kicks at the outset and miss. Barrett throws another and Maeda catches it and shoves Barrett over. Barrett sells it like a pro-wrestler, with comical shock at this turn of events. Maeda throws a kick and Barrett catches that and shoves Maeda over. Barrett stays true to his promo, following his assault in with a lariat and a suplex and getting an early rope break. Maeda is having none of this though. He gets up and boots Barrett hard. Barrett sells like a Looney Tunes character and takes a count.<br />
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In the next exchanges, Barrett takes Maeda over in a not-unattractive armdrag to try and force his man to the ground. Maeda looks wary underneath his oafishly-clad opponent and attempts to boot his way out of the hole. It works, forcing Barrett to loosen for long enough for Maeda to crab him. They get up and Barrett starts swinging wildly with palm strikes. Maeda covers up until Barrett's comical large guy energy is depleted and takes him over with a kick.<br />
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<br />
Maeda walks through a bunch of strikes to shoot for a leg but Barrett is like no fucking way and throws a niiiiiice Fisherman's Suplex and then follows through with a sleeper. Maeda fights to standing and then whips Barrett over as easily as a dad playing with an infant and the mess of groundwork kills the crowd as it is impossible to see who is actually dominant here.<br />
<br />
Maeda makes everything a lot clearer as he smashes Barrett halfway across Nagano with a kick for a 9 count. Barrett gets a roar when he stands and puts up his dukes, briefly taking back over with half-power strikes. Maeda covers up again and then roars out, scooping Barrett in a bodyslam driver and then securing a chickenwing facelock for the win inside 7 minutes.<br />
<br />
Maeda holds Barrett's hand up in respect, or at least because he realises he's booked him again and he wants to get extra draw out of him. Not bad though.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />
The main event promises to take us beyond the good-but-inessential territory drawn out by the downcard bouts as Billy Robinson's finest pupil <b>Yoshiaki Fujiwara</b> takes on arguably his own finest pupil in <b>Masakatsu Funaki</b>. Again the camera just adores Funaki's youthful exhuberence as he holds court in a brief interview. Fujiwara speaks very briefly, cracking a knowing smile while lacing up his own boots, but he's not here for fun this time.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-o9bz7pwOtcw/WcF0VzeNFoI/AAAAAAAADi8/NVTzPram7vY6qnFzur7qfwFSl4G299W8ACLcBGAs/s1600/nagano21.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="420" data-original-width="442" height="303" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-o9bz7pwOtcw/WcF0VzeNFoI/AAAAAAAADi8/NVTzPram7vY6qnFzur7qfwFSl4G299W8ACLcBGAs/s320/nagano21.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">MURDERDAD IV: DAUGHTER BRINGS HOME<br />
UNSUITABLE FIANCEE</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
The first minute is feeling out but even the feeling out of Fujiwara and Funaki has a nice crispness about it that has kind of lacked this evening. They go into a clinch and someone throws a kick and there's this sense that they know they have been scouted so they retrieve themselves from overcommittment. It's great and it's subtle and it promises greatness. <br />
<br />
It threatens to go on a little too long, extending the exhibition theme of the night into the first four minutes of the match. Just as it starts to feel like neither is engaging in anything other than tentative circular dancing with occasional missed kicks and grapples that don't score, Funaki clocks Fujiwara with a searching left palm strike that causes Fujiwara to fully recoil. It looks good for a moment until they go back to circling each other. The five minute announcement is made and still there's hardly been a meaningful exchange.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-brcUGswp8Ok/WcF0V2gXbcI/AAAAAAAADjA/wo-y6Cty5a8sQgmUPV0nNcmgjBtb3TScQCEwYBhgL/s1600/nagano20.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="412" data-original-width="476" height="345" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-brcUGswp8Ok/WcF0V2gXbcI/AAAAAAAADjA/wo-y6Cty5a8sQgmUPV0nNcmgjBtb3TScQCEwYBhgL/s400/nagano20.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"I don't think any blogs should show images from the match<br />
because it will be completely terrible for no apparent reason"</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
About a minute later Fujiwara hangs onto a kick of Funaki's and something like tension breaks out as Funaki tries, not too hard, to get out with taps and slaps. Fujiwara forces the match to the ground for the first time and works through a series of leg entanglements that Funaki neither visibly struggles against or sells much. Fujiwara is still working his catch magic on Funaki, though not with any degree of strictness or focus that we've seen before, but it is reasonably entertaining as he crawls around trying to nail Funaki down and wrench at his limbs.<br />
<br />
The position is reversed and Funaki finds himself in the mount as the ten minute announcement is made. There's more visible intensity as Fujiwara makes a rope break and the match returns to standing and circling and not quite exchanging anything of note. Funaki tags Fujiwara but it is a red herring to progress. Funaki gets Fujiwara in the corner and strikes a couple of times but the ref orders separation just as it was getting interesting. <br />
<br />
More circling. Funaki throws a strike that Fujiwara gets under and tries to convert into a submission that ends up in a total entanglement on the ground with Funaki threatning sankaku-jime and Fujiwara just threatening generally. Total silence from this previously engaged crowd. This position becomes a leg entanglement sans any kind of drama and then all of a sudden Fujiwara gets Funaki to tap from whatever he was working there, maybe a heel hook.<br />
<br />
The main event was terrible. Beneath the *1/2 range and easily the worst UWF main event so far to the extent that it felt like actual sabotage on behalf of the participants. It is inexplicable. Fujiwara and Suzuki was good. Funaki and Suzuki was good. Fujiwara and everyone else he has been in with was great. (EDIT: THEY EVEN FOUGHT AGAINST EACH OTHER IN MAY! It had a slightly strange ending but I said "this was really great." WHAT GIVES???) But here against his prime student and good friend? Completely terrible. I can sort of see why things went south from here.<br />
<br />
<b>NEXT TIME</b>: Tamura comes at the king!<br />
<ul>
</ul>
</div>
D. Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14629124673589292567noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6812605115270563531.post-41382992374608849692017-09-10T08:46:00.002-07:002017-09-11T01:44:10.351-07:00UWF 13/08/1989 - MIDSUMMER CREATION (14/31)<b>UWF Midsummer Creation</b><br />
Yokohama Arena, Yokohama<br />
13th August 1989<br />
att. 17000<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
And so we hit our first snag in the attempt to provide a full historiographical overview of the legendary shoot-style wrestling company UWF. Eagle-eyed readers will already have spotted the 14/31 in the title and not the 12/31 that should necessarily occur what with the 11/31 in the title of the previous show. And doubtless those readers will have swelled with anger and grief and all I can do is stare that barrage of sheer enmity down and give you the honest truth of the whole sordid affair.<br />
<br />
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<br />
The discs in my possession for FIGHTING SQUARE NAGOYA and FIGHTING SQUARE HAKATA are incomplete. Both cut off after one hour and omit matches of grave importance such as the bout ranked #2 of 1988 & 1989 by the UWF itself (the disc also features the match ranked #3, and at least that is complete, because it is a complete cla- I have said too much). And unlike my review of MAY HISTORY 1ST I am thus far unable to locate these strays even in the cultural detritus coherer that is the internet of 2017. Thing is: I have seen all of the Hakata show somewhere before, so it's gotta be out there. <br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a>Where TK Scissors made an artform of ploughing through the RINGS content in his possession and effectively admitting that all history contains ellipsis, I feel that I must deliver entire shoot-style reportage or else this entire task is redundant. No that is not being overly dramatic.<br />
<br />
So I have taken stock. All 12 of the 1990 shows are missing. Matches exist in various places online and I am hopeful that I can paste together full shows from the offerings out there. Of the remaining shows of 1989 the entirety of FIGHTING BASE NAGANO (15/31) is a complete disc while neither day of the two day show at Korakuen (FORCE KORAKUEN 2 DAYS, 16/31 & 17/31 respectively) are in my possession. Rounding out the year are the full shows of FIGHTING ART (18/31) and the big U-COSMOS (19/31) show at the Tokyo Dome. What this means for the future of this particular and peculiar piece of preservation I do not know yet but I have a foreboding similar to that of a young lion ahead of a New Japan show who Minoru Suzuki has just asked to go to the ring for some pre-match stretching.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-3MWxXj6ooOk/WbVPUpgoqzI/AAAAAAAADdY/AAf9ILnefioihVOmqrE_FwkvH6H3bepwwCLcBGAs/s1600/mid01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="372" data-original-width="609" height="243" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-3MWxXj6ooOk/WbVPUpgoqzI/AAAAAAAADdY/AAf9ILnefioihVOmqrE_FwkvH6H3bepwwCLcBGAs/s400/mid01.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="_Tgc">But soft, what light through yonder tree breaks? <br />It is the east, and Maeda is the sun.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
On to the show in our midst. Light bursts through the trees near the Yokohama Arena and casts a yellow glow over the queuing masses as some deeply annoying arrhythmic music plays before cutting to a new age-synth informed montage of various top athletes of the UWF wandering around ahead of their fights. I don't want to spoil the matches they're setting up ahead of time but my god they look like humdingers. One of them made it to #6 in that coveted UWF self-analysing top ten of 1988 and 1989.<br />
<br />
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<br />
And then the beloved upbeat UWF theme tune and time for the parade and the fighters emerge flanked by a ring boy who looks a lot like Kiyoshi Tamura but could be someone else. The crowd are going nuts already for this and even guys like Tatsuo Nakano are being heartily clapped on the back on his way down to the ring (I mean Nakano is awesome but in UWF world he is low-ranked).<br />
<br />
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<br />
Masakatsu Funaki works the stick, wearing his customary yellow jogging bottoms. Then for some mad reason Maeda receives a big certificate in a frame presented by a oft-bowing flunky and the logo flashes up thaaaaaaaaaaaaat's UWF!<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-XjFnw8lvEcU/WbVQ9Kx2quI/AAAAAAAADds/d_AJqqQpAsMp5i8v6aZtqQFCTxGaj2IUACEwYBhgL/s1600/mid03.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="473" data-original-width="585" height="322" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-XjFnw8lvEcU/WbVQ9Kx2quI/AAAAAAAADds/d_AJqqQpAsMp5i8v6aZtqQFCTxGaj2IUACEwYBhgL/s400/mid03.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Yamazaki clearly cannot wait for days of equality to come in UWF-i</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Now I do not intend to reverse-spoil the shows that we have missed too much, only to say that we have missed none of young UWF lion <b>Kiyoshi Tamura</b> as he was left off those shows and indeed he is fighting on this midsummer eve (is midsummer different in Japan? It is usually around 21/06 here in Britain). The second match of Tamura's soon-to-be-electric career is against the man of undulating fortunes, <b>Shigeo Miyato</b>, who once upon a time seemed destined for the upper ranks of shoot-style glorification after an opening six months of fire only to be cast down in the pit of Maeda's deep indifference.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-0--k9difYKg/WbVSxDmdr3I/AAAAAAAADeE/sPGDD9h2kpYXYH2iowntQWlFKF4Pt4GlQCLcBGAs/s1600/mid05.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="456" data-original-width="574" height="317" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-0--k9difYKg/WbVSxDmdr3I/AAAAAAAADeE/sPGDD9h2kpYXYH2iowntQWlFKF4Pt4GlQCLcBGAs/s400/mid05.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Miyato + weight = SANADA's cousin</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Tamura, now not totally bald, gets a solid cheer, practically the same amount of applause as Miyato. Tamura wears the full crimson attire and kickpads that say <i>T A M U R A</i> down the side that he would wear in later glory days while Miyato has switched to a mauve trouser with a multicoloured side stripe. The opening flurries are all kicks looking for range before they get into some standing grapples where Miyato works a bit more like a veteran of some years, all testy and throwing knees wherever possible.<br />
<br />
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<br />
So the story seems to be the classic young lion vs. solid mid-ranker where the established guy bullies and teaches wrestling lessons while the rookie fires up and reaps the applause by being earnest and fun and straightforward. Tamura keeps having to make the ropes to force the break of Miyato's leg submissions and pretty soon Tamura is down a DOWN and there's a nice new graphic to indicate just that. Just as I am ruminating on Miyato, who I have always thought small, being bigger than Tamura - Tamura gains entry into juji-gatame in a 'flying' technique and the crowd go crazy for it. The crowd are more like a football crowd tonight with constant hubbub between the moments where they collectively lose it.<br />
<br />
Tamura takes another down from a rope break and then gets up and walks into a mid-kick that doubles him up for a third down. A rolling sole butt, Miyato's big move, puts Tamura down a fourth time. Tamura then gets up and eats a flurry of strikes ending with a high knee for a fifth and final down at 9.07. Miyato consoles our plucky young pup. Good match!<br />
<br />
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<br />
<b>Minoru Suzuki</b> has mostly been used as enhancement talent thus far in his UWF run since arriving along with his mentor Yoshiaki Fujiwara and future Pancrase-co-founder Masakatsu Funaki. Tonight he meets <b>Tatsuo Nakano</b> who could also be said to not exactly be swimming in big wins. But Nakano gets a mighty cheer at the outset. Has something happened in the shows that we have missed?<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />
Immediately both guys set about each other with crazed and uncontrolled strikes. Nakano is red of face and looking for Suzuki's leg while Suzuki fends Nakano's wild charging off with his free leg and slapping the heck out of him on the ground. They're stood back up and Suzuki barrels forward with palm strikes. Nakano half grabs Suzuki around his neck but the latter falls forward and takes a DOWN even though it looks like he was the aggressor. Strange. <br />
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<br />
Suzuki, like his mentor Fujiwara is wont, was playing possum, backing up at the restart and then wilding on Nakano when a kick misses its marks. Nakano gets suplexed and his nose busts wide open and the camera is not even bothered about technique and is just meditating on Nakano looking angry as hell with a fucked-up face. And why not?<br />
<br />
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<br />
Huge German suplex from Nakano staggers Suzuki and puts him DOWN a second time and the crowd are completely loco right now. This is not technical UWF at all and Suzuki drives that point home by piledriving the shit out of Nakano and then wrenching in a half crab for dessert. Nakano turns and gets back up and drives his knee deep into Suzuki's body. <br />
<br />
The referee breaks them up which leads Suzuki to hurl Nakano and wreck him with an armbar and knees to the head for a DOWN. Nakano gets up pissed as fuck and eats a counter-dropkick (it is that kind of match) to continue clouting Suzuki for all he is worth. Suzuki then does a cool-as-shit rope-assisted ogoshi on Nakano for a second DOWN and piles on the pressure with a double underhook suplex with gorgeous floatover into side control.<br />
<br />
I need to take a breath but this match won't let me. Half crab by Suzuki gets a rope break, which for some reason counts as a third DOWN for Nakano. The camera zooms in on Suzuki's face and his is also messed-up like he's just lost a match in Streetfighter II.<br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HDWZsSkPWh0/WbVUjBaPd1I/AAAAAAAADeg/RkYG5eD_WmghCDJeO1AD1hDNTcxjRZ4dQCEwYBhgL/s1600/mid11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="406" data-original-width="498" height="325" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HDWZsSkPWh0/WbVUjBaPd1I/AAAAAAAADeg/RkYG5eD_WmghCDJeO1AD1hDNTcxjRZ4dQCEwYBhgL/s400/mid11.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">CONTINUE? 10...9...8...</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Suzuki is in complete control and wastes Nakano with kicks and a buckle driver. Nakano fires back up and boots Suzuki to the turf for a third DOWN and then hits an A+ low angle suplex and follows it in for a single crab that Suzuki taps to! Where has this Nakano come from? I love him! He takes the arm raise for victory and looks totally beaten up. 7.35 long match with 25 mins of action! A contender for my own UWF top ten for sure. It just seems so silly to book Nakano in anything longer than 10 minutes. He's got the cardio of a powerlifter and the grace and style of a slugger and those 20+ techfests are just not for him. Now we know!<br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-DKeAHTIFS0I/WbVUjcUGP1I/AAAAAAAADek/nTTZ1cITNVYmrp2CuasRqTh4NlKFijs8QCEwYBhgL/s1600/mid12.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="418" data-original-width="525" height="317" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-DKeAHTIFS0I/WbVUjcUGP1I/AAAAAAAADek/nTTZ1cITNVYmrp2CuasRqTh4NlKFijs8QCEwYBhgL/s400/mid12.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">would hate to see what he looks like when he loses</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Two ever-reliable workers up next as the falling-from-grace <b>Kazuo Yamazaki</b> meets the rising-upward <b>Yoji Anjo</b> in the middle (of the midcard of Midsummer Creation, nearly the middle event of the UWF 2 run). For all the UWF matches that have happened twice, three times, even four times by now, Anjo-Yamazaki is a first time affair.<br />
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A handshake is followed by the most measured start of the three so far even though the pace is still pretty sprightly. Anjo charges and pushes Yamazaki back to give himself space to kick. But Yamazaki mugs his man to the floor and cranks his nice from the prone position. That's how the first three minutes goes: Anjo tries, Yamazaki says nah.<br />
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Then Yamazaki lapses, missing a kick of Anjo and eating all of the half-dozen follow-ups. But Yamazaki, this man, he is just too smart, and finds a way to enter an armbar that Anjo scuttlebutts all the way the ropes to get out of. After Yamazaki controls more on the ground, they both get back up, but Yamazaki starts to win that war too, booting Anjo unceremoniously for a knockdown.<br />
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On resumption Anjo gets the stronger grip, allowing him to hurl Yamazaki over for a snug suplex and keep hold of the arm to wrench it this way and that. Anjo on the ground is always a little muddled and his switching from arm to leg causes Yamazaki to be deeply unimpressed and reverse the whole thing in his own favour, at least until Anjo boots Yamazaki in the head for him to release the hold.<br />
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After a Yamazaki rope break Anjo boots his man while he is still on the floor. Yamazaki gets up and remonstrates with the referee as a ploy to lure Anjo onto a severe booting. But this Anjo is tough too and he finds a way to land on Yamazaki for a DOWN, walking away and firing up the crowd. Seconds later, Yamazaki finds a knockdown of his own, hurting Anjo's knee so that Anjo indicates he'd rather take a count than get up, even though clearly could do.<br />
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Anjo uses a pro-wrestling style roll-up as a transition into a submission but Yamazaki is just like what on earth kiddo but Anjo uses that moment of disgust to throw a gnarly-looking belly-to-belly for a DOWN. Yamazaki's disgust continues and he chases the knackered knee of Anjo, kicking him in the ligaments and sending him earthward for a third DOWN. <br />
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The following series of kicks delivered by Yamazaki are all gruesome but all they do is soften Anjo up enough for Yamazaki to secure a cross kneelock on the bad knee and take the easy tap. Funnily enough the crowd become a bit subdued during the latter half of the match despite nothing really changing quality-wise. I liked it.<br />
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Interview with <b>Masakatsu Funaki</b>. They clearly love this kid. He's treated like a prince every time he appears on screen. His screen time is followed by an interview with the not-inconsiderably-handsome <b>Nobuhiko Takada</b> and this is our match! The second-in-command of the recent New Japan invasion against the second-in-command of the initial colonisers. Which given our upcoming foreigner-free main event perhaps indicates a theme for the show.<br />
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First strike is by Funaki and it's a palm strike that immediately causes Takada to recoil in panic and immediately Funaki is all over him and scoring a down inside 20 seconds! Wild! Takada, the relative veteran, takes some extra time in the corner but walks on to another series of explosions from his lemon-clad opponent.<br />
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Funaki rocks Takada again and again, knees and kicks in gorgeous arcs, broaching Takada's defences with ease and scoring a second knockdown. Takada puts up his dukes on wobbled legs and circles away, looking to evade Funaki's range and striking power. A tentative grapple buys Takada some time but Funaki loosens the grip with a knee and a palm strike sends Takada crashing to the mat a third time inside the first 4 minutes maybe? Incredible scenes!<br />
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Takada's only remaining strategy is the thing he hasn't tried: attack. It works, planting Funaki down to the mat for a knockdown. There's still no real grappling here at all and every lock-up is broken with strikes or misgivings that are compounded when Funaki eats mat a second time from a Takada knee.<br />
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Funaki misses by inches with a roaring backhand and the match sees its first piece of groundwork broken up rapidly. Collar-and-elbow mid-ring gives some breathing space and a double underhook with softening knees by Funaki is converted into a suplex. Funaki ends up in full mount with Takada trying to lock his hands up away from his exposed face. <br />
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Funaki gives up the position and tries to roll Takada over using his legs, looking for the full crab. Takada looks reluctant to use the ropes given his precarious position in knockdowns. Funaki settles for the single-leg crab and the transitions into the STF before letting the leglock go and just going full throttle in the crossface. The camera reveals he has busted his nose. Probably from this:<br />
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Funaki loosens the rapidly falling-apart grip and tries to kick Takada but Takada scores a knockdown with a countering kick and follow through with knee. Funaki charges forward by Takada secures a front facelock and drags Funaki to the mat. Now Takada is on the attack with palm strikes, knees, and a rolling wheel kick for a third knockdown. It's 3-3!<br />
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Takada takes the lead soon after, booting Funaki in the head as he lies prone after a collapsed submission. But the lead doesn't last long as Funaki staggers forward and hits a rolling kick to Takada's head. At 4-4 the two go hell-for-leather with a strike flurry cartoonish in appearance and visceral in intensity. Takada hits a back suplex and rolls through to hit a Camel Clutch. Funaki taps and the whole thing is over in 12 minutes flat. Wow. This is the match, as indicated earlier, that UWF ranked #6 in their 1988/1989 compilation. It certainly was something.<br />
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Tonight's main event then features none other than <b>Akira Maeda</b> with his personal certificate of being King of UWF against catch wrestling overlord and bringer of armbars <b>Yoshiaki Fujiwara</b>. I am interested to see what these former tag partners of the original UWF can do in there because if I am honest I don't think Maeda's wrestling strengths are similar to Fujiwara's.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-F5J-tIdX5a8/WbVbwY_O08I/AAAAAAAADf4/awe8ez2jCeQmEK86UUX3c-Y2lhi6US7cwCLcBGAs/s1600/mid27.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="409" data-original-width="560" height="291" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-F5J-tIdX5a8/WbVbwY_O08I/AAAAAAAADf4/awe8ez2jCeQmEK86UUX3c-Y2lhi6US7cwCLcBGAs/s400/mid27.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">MURDERDAD III: MURDER IN YOKOHAMA</td></tr>
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A long theme tune and light show play before interviews. Fujiwara smiles a lot wearing an orange towel. Maeda wears a white vest and has a peach fuzz moustache and I think he is also exhibiting some of the 'problem hair' issues that would blight people like Genichiro Tenryu (or make more awesome, depending on your perspective on tonsorial choices in wrestling).<br />
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Equal cheers for these pioneers before Maeda backs Fujiwara down and cocks him. Fujiwara grapples Maeda and turns him around in the corner and delivers what looks like a shoot headbutt right on Maeda's chin that lands so hard that even I get knocked down for ten watching 28 years in the future. Fujiwara preens and bounces like a young/old Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson as Maeda gets counted off to 8.<br />
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More grappling is curtailed through mistrust and kicks. A lock-up ends up with both guys' heads out of the ring and Maeda digging Fujiwara as they attempt to get back in. In a clinch Maeda grabs Fujiwara's leg, only for the old-timer to spin around fluidly and take the boss down with a sweep and then transition into attempted kneelock. That's what I'm really enjoying about Fujiwara in UWF: when he is attacked directly, you still feel like he is going to get the better of the section because he is so smart and capable.<br />
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Fujiwara has no such possum-playing answer for Maeda's charging high kicks and a knockdown is duly scored. 1-1. Maeda tries to suppress his man on the mat using his mass but from underneath Fujiwara headbutts Maeda and should score a down but the referee ends up telling Fujiwara off. Fujiwara takes over with a kesa-gatame which is probably the hold that pro-wrestling has debased the most into a mere 'rest hold' but here Fujiwara strains as if he is trying to end the oxygen receiving capabilities of Maeda so for now the awe of this technique has been restored.<br />
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After so many bouts of wild striking flurries it is actually great to see more matwork and for that matwork to be delivered by someone in whose hands it becomes transformative and artful rather than a dull procession of legitimacy. Maeda's not just chopped liver in there and here he is demolishing Fujiwara with a high-angle back suplex and then getting the hooks in for a rear naked choke though Fujiwara, the old card, makes the ropes, though he is wobbling and straining on resumption.<br />
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Fujiwara's wobbling becomes full-on backing-off. Bad idea as Maeda lashes in a kick for a second knockdown. Fujiwara comes out flying but Maeda effortlessly guides him back to earth with a cool amateur suplex that once again he follows up with a rear naked choke. But it's not fully in and Fujiwara thinks he can make something of this, even wrapped up in Maeda's legs, and sure enough Fujiwara starts to use Maeda's position against him leading to a Maeda rope break.<br />
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Fujiwara gets Maeda up against the ropes and rugby tackles him through them. Maeda hits the concrete and then rolls back in. Fujiwara hobbles him with a kick to the ligaments. Maeda drops to his knees and then offers Fujiwara position, amateur wrestling style. Fujiwara demurs but Maeda stays on this knees, inviting Fujiwara to come and get him. Once again Fujiwara thinks better of it.<br />
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Maeda's ascendancy continues to a third knockdown with a kick. Fujiwara seems unable or unwilling to get out of his corner and takes a fourth knockdown straight away, eating a kick and curling up to avoid taking more. Fujiwara stands again and the same thing happens: Maeda booms a kick in, Fujiwara hits the dirt, and the match is over. A quick ending that seemed to come out of nowhere, but made perfect sense. Great stuff.<br />
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After receiving his certificate at the end of the show, Maeda now receives a huge trophy, a giant cardboard key, and another certificate. Not bad work if you can get it!<br />
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A post-match montage shows Suzuki attending to Fujiwara, who looks indifferent in defeat. Miyato helps Maeda keep the weight off his attacked knee. All the while a Mike Oldfield piano figure loops and everything pauses on Maeda's terrible post-match hair.<br />
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Top to bottom the strongest UWF show to date. Every match was, at worst, good. This felt like a distinct change or evolution in the style. The addition of Fujiwara and his two students has aided the wrestling quality of these shows immensely. Maybe there's something also to be said for not always using foreign guys who don't usually work matches? Just a thought!<br />
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<b>NEXT</b>: MASTER VERSUS PUPIL!<br />
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D. Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14629124673589292567noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6812605115270563531.post-54036231663374757402017-09-02T07:26:00.001-07:002017-09-03T04:51:09.344-07:00UWF 21/05/1989 - MAY HISTORY 2ND (11/31)<b>UWF May History 2nd</b><br />
NK Hall, Tokyo<br />
21st May 1989<br />
att. 7000<br />
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<br />
The stoic stone lion that guards the front of Tokyo's NK Bay Hall that we see in the establishing shot of today's show could be interpreted by some to be one of many calculated shots fired by UWF 2 toward their former comrades and colleagues in the world of New Japan Professional Wrestling.<br />
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After now just over one year wildly successful year of business it is clear that UWF is taking bold steps of its own - toward the real fighting crew of Pancrase, perhaps, that would also host its debut show in this very building. Think of this show as an anchor point found midway through the company's run, midway between paradigms, adrift, alone, pioneering, bold. Maeda.<br />
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<a name='more'></a>Welcome to another installment of livetyped UWF episodes. This is very much a say-what-you-see enterprise with some context drafted in later to balance out the doggerel. A desolate and mercifully brief montage in different shades of white and grey gives way to a widdly speed-metal montage of internal shots of the impressive NK Bay Hall interspersed with what I can only assume is footage of the bouts to come which I shall largely ignore at this moment in time.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-f5m5OsiAxi8/Waqy7Mn2III/AAAAAAAADaA/3wdMLGb62UMav7ZVnpGL_cuZQViJVFRbQCEwYBhgL/s1600/nkbay02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="409" data-original-width="546" height="298" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-f5m5OsiAxi8/Waqy7Mn2III/AAAAAAAADaA/3wdMLGb62UMav7ZVnpGL_cuZQViJVFRbQCEwYBhgL/s400/nkbay02.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">MURDERDAD 2: MORE DEATH</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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A furiously clapped fighter parade, in order of appearance: Shigeo Miyato, who does not wrestle tonight. A new person we shall come to. Minoru Suzuki wondering what the rafters will look like with a Pancrase logo hanging from it. Yoji Anjo looking beefier than usual. Yoshiaki Fujiwara smiling and strutting. Masakatsu Funaki, again in lemon tracksuit trousers teamed with the grey t-shirt of this event, gets a chant by name. Returning foreign guy Bob Backlund emerges and rejects the stoic conventions of UWF by whooping and pumping the air a lot. He has a nasty shiner allegedly given to him in training by the disgruntled shooter contingent in the locker room because fuck this guy, Fujiwara and Suzuki seem to say: <br />
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The next guy is another foreigner we have not met yet but he is hella large and wearing some kind of Texan flag trouser. Finally we see Nobuhiko Takada, Kazuo Yamazaki, and Akira Maeda make subdued but well-received entrances.<br />
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ROaF39nKQPc/Waqy7seIw6I/AAAAAAAADaU/VVv1mxTWNoM1rDTJuiyiVkJzOI_RQ3j-ACEwYBhgL/s1600/nkbay04.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="415" data-original-width="600" height="276" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ROaF39nKQPc/Waqy7seIw6I/AAAAAAAADaU/VVv1mxTWNoM1rDTJuiyiVkJzOI_RQ3j-ACEwYBhgL/s400/nkbay04.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Yamazaki works the stick briefly and then a synth makes a noise like a motorbike revving up and YEAAAAAAAAAH MAY HISTORY 2ND!!<br />
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-OMi5wixfU_g/Waqy7z6A9JI/AAAAAAAADaU/k-dgYrrMGs4H-ELMORm4tFQRJkWSSKPOQCEwYBhgL/s1600/nkbay05.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="290" data-original-width="585" height="197" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-OMi5wixfU_g/Waqy7z6A9JI/AAAAAAAADaU/k-dgYrrMGs4H-ELMORm4tFQRJkWSSKPOQCEwYBhgL/s400/nkbay05.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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The first match assails us rapidly and it is a seminal moment in the Long UWF (copyright <a href="http://tkscissors.blogspot.co.uk/">TK Scissors</a>) as young lion <b>Kiyoshi Tamura</b> debuts against <b>Minoru Suzuki</b>. If you recall the last young lion (Tsunehito Naito) making his actual debut in UWF did not go well and unless I am very much mistaken this is Tamura's ACTUAL FIRST MATCH. However what we know in 2017 is that Tamura is one of the finest stylists to ever style or shoot so here we should not fear too much for the kid even though he looks way smaller than what he would eventually grow to be (a solid middleweight) and also he is fighting Suzuki who is not exactly known for 'taking it easy'.<br />
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An overly homoerotic gear check (for me, maybe not you) from the referee preceeds a handshake. Tamura in classic red, Suzuki in soon-to-be-discarded blue. Tamura shows a lot of fire early but gets caught and body-slammed. No danger, says Tamura, as he gets up and slaps Suzuki. Already the crowd are like "this guy is good!" and I don't disagree. Tamura feints low, he throws rangy kicks, and he forces Suzuki to adopt this slightly pugilist stance to anticipate better what he surely sees as the purest fire emerging from the future RINGS champion.<br />
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Tamura gets a kick in but then Suzuki catches the next and bundles him over but Tamura is, famously, like a greased pig on the ground and notoriously impossible to contain. When they return to standing Suzuki takes control with a nice throw into an armbar that sees Tamura make the ropes. When they get up Tamura throws kicks but is caught yet again and ends up being twisted rotten by a leg lock of the gnarliest kind. Tamura makes the ropes a third time but no 'DOWN' graphic appears. There is no need for this as the next movement is the end: Suzuki folds Tamura in a half crab (see above) and wins in 5.30. Promising stuff.<br />
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-6oXQpaOP3jE/Waq1U3aMp9I/AAAAAAAADao/e_oj0Mx9Okkq8uQAaaacJmQG2jM51aLQwCLcBGAs/s1600/nkbay08.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="310" data-original-width="542" height="228" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-6oXQpaOP3jE/Waq1U3aMp9I/AAAAAAAADao/e_oj0Mx9Okkq8uQAaaacJmQG2jM51aLQwCLcBGAs/s400/nkbay08.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Straight into match two as <b>Yoji Anjo</b> (looking less like Mick Jagger) squares off with <b>Yoshiaki Fujiwara</b>, who eschews kneepads but employs a highly-pulled sports sock above the Asics wrestling boot for added style points. Anjo tries some impactful stuff early but Fujiwara is just like NOPE and belly-to-belly suplexes and goes for some vicious leg lock that collapses into the ropes.<br />
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Fujiwara's skills are so nakedly obvious that you just look past his permanent dad bod at least until the moments where he is in repose for like 5 seconds. Apart from that he is just a whirling dervish of trying to hurt you with parts of his body and yours. Anjo does finally get in there, holding a kesa-gatame and slapping with his free hand. But he pays for it when they stand up as Fujiwara just grabs an arm and charges into Anjo shoulder first in a way that makes everyone go UUUUUUUHHHHHHHH.<br />
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Things get promising as Anjo catches Fujiwara in a three-quarter side facelock aka chancery aka cravat and Fujiwara is slipping out of this realm of oxygen but then Anjo works around the back for a more trad. sleeper style hold as Fujiwara looks completely uncomfortable and foams at the mouth in the way that we thought Tomohiro Ishii invented in 2013 but actually, it turns out, did not.<br />
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The attempted submission falls apart but Anjo kicks a prone Fujiwara, who starts goading Anjo into coming at him. But Anjo's mother didn't raise the kind of fool who would get on a plane and take on a BJJ expert behind closed doors for the sake of his friends and wrestling style. Hang on. Maybe that's what explains Fujiwara now being on top and kicking the shit out of poor Mr. 200%. Fujiwara gets a cool ankle hold on Anjo and the crowd are just begging Anjo to make the ropes, possibly not because they love him and want him to win, but probably to avoid witnessing seeing a man lose his lower limbs on their dime. He makes it out sure enough, but loses in the next phase to a cross kneelock. Good stuff and the pair hug it out at the close. Fujiwara is just the coolest. <br />
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The pre-match montage of the bout between <b>Bob Backlund</b> and <b>Masakatsu Funaki</b>, one of some infamy, is very much like something out of the new series of Twin Peaks, detailing the standard motion of two people entering the ring but dissected and reassembled and re-soundtracked to make everything seem completely unlike the idea of two men entering a ring to have a fight. I like it.<br />
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-lKlHdrmt2ME/Waq3j3yw_2I/AAAAAAAADbE/chT_Vd_8ziIpAF8nfVtF1dzB7FnVgZ1sgCLcBGAs/s1600/nkbay11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="468" data-original-width="609" height="306" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-lKlHdrmt2ME/Waq3j3yw_2I/AAAAAAAADbE/chT_Vd_8ziIpAF8nfVtF1dzB7FnVgZ1sgCLcBGAs/s400/nkbay11.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Pre-match interviews. Funaki says some things in Japanese that feel to me like 'I am pretty good at this and I don't rate these American pro-wrestlers so I will stiff the fuck out of him' with the consummate ease of someone who has just done that very thing. Backlund's shiner is apparent in his VT and here is what he says, referencing the first bout he had against Nobuhiko Takada:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>In Osaka, in the match, the beginning I had my hands up here [raises hands to temple level] but in amateur wrestling you always keep your hands down and by the end of the match I had my hands down on instinct and I have to keep my hands up. [shot of Backlund training wearing a jacket that says BOLTON on it] But I learn a little more each time I go into the ring.</i></blockquote>
Let's take a look at his face as he says this:<br />
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-DmkTKN-0VNU/Waq3kDQ6owI/AAAAAAAADbI/SmponSV7Z68V5Q5nXr4Q2Dxpj5C1blgowCEwYBhgL/s1600/nkbay14.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="174" data-original-width="159" height="400" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-DmkTKN-0VNU/Waq3kDQ6owI/AAAAAAAADbI/SmponSV7Z68V5Q5nXr4Q2Dxpj5C1blgowCEwYBhgL/s400/nkbay14.jpg" width="365" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UEXohkjZFic/Waq3ksaCrHI/AAAAAAAADbM/mSblGXvSXTUAec68xta9FFMzH4qnDdh3QCEwYBhgL/s1600/nkbay15.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="95" data-original-width="92" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UEXohkjZFic/Waq3ksaCrHI/AAAAAAAADbM/mSblGXvSXTUAec68xta9FFMzH4qnDdh3QCEwYBhgL/s400/nkbay15.jpg" width="387" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">my god</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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The additional disrobing (Funaki with his headband, Backlund with his towel and stars'n'stripes jacket) that signifies a bigger bout occurs prior to the first tussle between Backlund (whose hands are low as can be) and Funaki, which Backlund rejects, sensing trickery. Funaki peels off a nice low kick and Backlund pulls this face that is like 'how very dare you' and come on shit on this guy's shooter rep all you like (not that I ever thought he had one) but he is great value for money and besides the sport of boxing could learn a lot from this (obligatory Robin Black pop over with, let's move on).<br />
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Some groundwork tussling is broken up by Funaki kicking so Backlund gets up and does the 'I'm mad, let's fight' pose. Funaki kicks him again and dominates him to the mat with a screwy twisting suplex type thing that allows him to take the mount position. Backlund's having none of this ground stuff from this guy - Takada could be dominated on the floor but Funaki is too versed in the fluid movements and hip shifts - so he works toward the upright where possible.<br />
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But it's not like Funaki has no stand-up and scores a knockdown with a picture perfect high kick. Backlund gets up and wobble-legs around the ring like he's at the Nassau Coliseum in 1979. But he's playing possum and he scores a knockdown with a forearm and works it into amateur style control of Funaki's upper half, but Funaki seems to simply raise his head and Backlund goes flying over in an exaggerated backdrop. Funaki gets pissed off with Backlund's cornball act and slaps Backlund and Backlund slaps back and the crowd go UUUUUHHHHHHH and to an extent I do too.<br />
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After some super low kicks by Funaki (like, ground skimming) they test strength in mutual gutwrenches. Backlund hoists the young princeling over but Funaki is up quicker to apply a sleeper after Backlund soaks up the applause too long. The reversal out, a pro-wrestling style hip-toss, does not go over too well. Backlund starts to turn away from strikes too, looking a bit fed up with how this is all panning out, wishing that he was in Glen Falls, NY against a breathless powerhouse.<br />
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Z559Oo70bNk/Waq5HUxq1TI/AAAAAAAADbY/0yIvL9N4XCwwFnij_2tqtUG1mCnO97vWQCEwYBhgL/s1600/nkbay17.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="410" data-original-width="501" height="326" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Z559Oo70bNk/Waq5HUxq1TI/AAAAAAAADbY/0yIvL9N4XCwwFnij_2tqtUG1mCnO97vWQCEwYBhgL/s400/nkbay17.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Funaki hits with a closed fist and the referee tells him off. The contest, now slightly ragged, goes to the floor and Backlund is obviously trying to walk it back to sense with a headlock and some chatter. They stand back up and Funaki lights Backlund up with kicks and the rolling sole butt (spinning kick) favoured by Shigeo Miyato.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-vZ1LChT1fvI/Waq5HRZTWZI/AAAAAAAADbc/u6rwYMa3rhQYTzrKhk6SlmZ5HF3N8AfKgCEwYBhgL/s1600/nkbay18.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="363" data-original-width="468" height="310" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-vZ1LChT1fvI/Waq5HRZTWZI/AAAAAAAADbc/u6rwYMa3rhQYTzrKhk6SlmZ5HF3N8AfKgCEwYBhgL/s400/nkbay18.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">ending pt. 1 of 3</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Then the small matter of the ending. A tussle leads Backlund to hoist Funaki up and deposit him on the top turnbuckle, leading to a UWF first of a strike performed from the elevated position as Funaki dropkicks Backlund across the ring. The referee calls the match in favour of Backlund, who wins by DQ. No one looks or sounds happy with how this has transpired and rightly so. A second Backlund match has a stupid ending and it sucks.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-MGGjt8uiFAU/Waq5H_Ae98I/AAAAAAAADbk/QFWD6HFiZ8wBgaDwm0esNlLbEB0K1xf5wCEwYBhgL/s1600/nkbay19.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="413" data-original-width="546" height="302" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-MGGjt8uiFAU/Waq5H_Ae98I/AAAAAAAADbk/QFWD6HFiZ8wBgaDwm0esNlLbEB0K1xf5wCEwYBhgL/s400/nkbay19.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">pt. 2 of 3</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-LBVpzKdBl2Y/Waq5IMMwuEI/AAAAAAAADbo/S_jE6YJEhucmzCWNWSpaQWIMyUWmcTDuACEwYBhgL/s1600/nkbay20.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="395" data-original-width="546" height="288" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-LBVpzKdBl2Y/Waq5IMMwuEI/AAAAAAAADbo/S_jE6YJEhucmzCWNWSpaQWIMyUWmcTDuACEwYBhgL/s400/nkbay20.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">pt. 3 of 3</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Bout four features a newcomer: <b>Johnny Barrett</b>. Cagematch has nothing on him and I'm unfamiliar. Fortunately <a href="http://segundacaida.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Johnny%20Barrett">Segunda Caida</a> help us put some pieces together:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>Barrett is an early 90's Florida indy worker who was an early DDP tag
partner and feuded with the Nasty Boys. Somehow he ended up in UWF2
working as a Greco guy. All of his earliest UWF matches are filled with 3
Stooges style selling and dropkicks, so of course I loved them.
[...] By 1991 Barrett
had gotten the hang of working the style and is actually a really great
shootstyle monster, kind of like Gary Albright with takedowns instead of
suplexes.</i> </blockquote>
This could augur well or badly.<br />
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Barrett's intro video reveals a soft-spoken man:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>To beat Takada you have to be smarter than he is, he's a very smart wrestler. He kicks a lot. I'm in good shape. I'm ready for Takada. I'm quick too. He thinks because I'm big that I'm slow. No. I have to be one step ahead of him. UWF, I really like the UWF, it's a great style. I hope to come back to Tokyo, maybe against Maeda. I like this style of wrestling.</i></blockquote>
Barrett goes forward cautiously, hands high, and gets one of the kicks thrown by opponent <b>Nobuhiko Takada</b> that Barrett himself forewarned himself about. After a couple of chances Barrett catches one and hoists Takada easily and the crowd are like OH CRUMBS THIS LARGE GUY WILL KILL HIM but it doesn't quite come to pass in the ensuing submission.<br />
<br />
Barrett disrupts Takada in the collar & elbow grapple by moving up and then dropping to the knee and then hitting a cool armdrag with good velocity so I guess he wasn't conning about that size-speed thing. This lad looks good so far! Even when he misses an enziguri the crowd feel like Takada has dodged a deathbullet rather than a pro-wrestling move (perhaps because Inoki has elevated that particular move).<br />
<br />
Takada wisely lets Barrett use this as a showcase, taking whatever Barrett has to offer and shilling and selling it all. Barrett looks good up until he looks clumsy going for a low shoot and Takada kicks Barrett flush in the head for his aesthetic dip. Barrett just fighting spirits through it as if to say U FUCKING WOT MATE. Somewhere near the end the crowd are buying this badly-attired behemoth as a credible winner and that, I suppose, is the main thing.<br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3fVl1yYSBjU/Waq6wIHLE_I/AAAAAAAADb0/XEuhHU4v7LcCKhg6De7nEUHeM8Tk1aVLgCLcBGAs/s1600/nkbay22.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="418" data-original-width="543" height="307" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3fVl1yYSBjU/Waq6wIHLE_I/AAAAAAAADb0/XEuhHU4v7LcCKhg6De7nEUHeM8Tk1aVLgCLcBGAs/s400/nkbay22.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
Alas it proves not the case as Takada hits a suite of submissions that ends up in the ropes for a break. On returning to the upright Barrett hulks Takada down for a knockdown but Takada roars back, kicks Barrett earthwards and applies a rapidfire armbreaker that Barrett taps immediately to. Short and sweet (inside 8 minutes) but entertaining stuff. <br />
<br />
<a href="http://kicksubmissionsuplex.blogspot.co.uk/2017/07/uwf-14041989-core-first-anniversary-0931.html">Recall two shows ago</a> when <b>Akira Maeda</b> faced <b>Kazuo Yamazaki</b> for the third time in UWF and got his third win after the doctor intervened to stop Yamazaki's cut head becoming a grave concern? Maeda got on the mic and, I guessed, proclaimed that Yamazaki would get another shot to come at the king. Well, here it is. Maeda-Yamazaki IV. Scores on the doors so far? 3-0 to Maeda.<br />
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-q020IVj9b5M/Waq8ynMWcAI/AAAAAAAADcM/JaIL3n0nCqwTWik481ERiJLKmRSCxlQTgCEwYBhgL/s1600/nkbay23.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="442" data-original-width="490" height="360" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-q020IVj9b5M/Waq8ynMWcAI/AAAAAAAADcM/JaIL3n0nCqwTWik481ERiJLKmRSCxlQTgCEwYBhgL/s400/nkbay23.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
Pre-match interviews seem to juxtapose Maeda's faces of worry with shots of Yamazaki kicking him really hard, so they're at least selling the threat. Yamazaki is asked why he headbutted Maeda so hard that his forehead exploded. He looks phlegmatic as Yoji Anjo spits into a sink behind him. More replays of that gnarly headbutt. Grim.<br />
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<br />
The long build cuts to the ring as the match commences. Maeda throws the first kick but Yamazaki lands the first one and is the only one of the two who seems to routinely employ blocking as a strategy. After some tense stuff Yamazaki knocks Maeda onto his back but Maeda comes roaring back. The two exchange fought-against suplexes and Yamazaki stops a low kick with his head and sinks to his knees and already this one feels pretty darn good.<br />
<br />
Maeda wraps Yamazaki's waist for a while and hulks him over for a back suplex and keeps the pressure on, leglocking him on the mat, taking away the power from Yamazaki's vicious and educated feet. Whatever they do there's a sense of struggle and tension about it, whether upright or in a clinch or on the mat. It isn't flinty like Fujiwara or speedy like Tamura or completely brutal like Volk Han would do in RINGS but it has it's own sense of rhythm that is very appealing.<br />
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<br />
<br />
Yamazaki shoots the leg and drags Maeda centre-ring. As Maeda uses his left arm to fend off, Yamazaki smartly transitions to that arm but loses balance and allows Maeda to take over. After fighting out of it Yamazaki starts kicking freely at last, knocking Maeda conclusively to the mat for a DOWN. When Maeda gets up he does exactly the same in return, only with extra beef and viciousness, causing Yamazaki to curl up to stop the fire. <br />
<br />
Yamazaki gets up and hits a high wheel kick and just glares at Maeda as he is downed a second time. Maeda tries to come back again but Yamazaki wisely cuts him off and knocks him down a third time. Maeda keeps chasing and Yamazaki is just above it all this time, though he loses his submission attempt as Maeda graps his lower limb in desperation rather than wisdom.<br />
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-n2DupXCjrk8/Waq-7tICSgI/AAAAAAAADcg/mfrYw8_sjIoLE0U2oOUXqbW8HUYaK-7AgCLcBGAs/s1600/nkbay30.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="383" data-original-width="562" height="272" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-n2DupXCjrk8/Waq-7tICSgI/AAAAAAAADcg/mfrYw8_sjIoLE0U2oOUXqbW8HUYaK-7AgCLcBGAs/s400/nkbay30.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
They're up again and Maeda is hitting knees and then drops Yamazaki on his head in a suplex for his second down of the contest, but Yamazaki quickly recovers and goes on the hunt again. This is like a hyperspeed version of the usual UWF main event. Yamazaki calls back the previous match by hitting a headbutt but this time not on something as solid as Maeda's head. It crumples Maeda and Yamazaki gets a fourth down after the follow-through submission requires a third rope break. One more down and Yamazaki gets that first ever win over his boss!<br />
<br />
Yamazaki throws a kick but Maeda scouts it and kicks the inner part of Yamazaki's knee not once, not twice, but thrice, each one coruscating and yet horrendous. Yamazaki hits the mat and is caught in a triangle choke that, although incredibly well-captured on camera, bodes incredibly badly for Yamazaki's prospects. He fights against it and sinks only deeper in the mire. The ref calls it and Maeda is 4-0 ahead in their series. Sigh. LOL. Etc. Poor Yamazaki. Good match though. Yamazaki just can't fail in terms of entertainment, at the very least.<br />
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-9Pf3U1Fw8wY/Waq9xyRQ3-I/AAAAAAAADcU/oragbnY5gqIyTqHWfuW4PXM3qije2t1lQCEwYBhgL/s1600/nkbay27.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="372" data-original-width="586" height="253" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-9Pf3U1Fw8wY/Waq9xyRQ3-I/AAAAAAAADcU/oragbnY5gqIyTqHWfuW4PXM3qije2t1lQCEwYBhgL/s400/nkbay27.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
Maeda wins to remain unbeaten in 1989. This was a good show featuring as many matches as the previous card but passing by in half the time. <br />
<br />
<b>NEXT</b>: Maeda-Takada IV!<br />
<br /></div>
D. Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14629124673589292567noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6812605115270563531.post-86577980868153413522017-08-23T08:07:00.000-07:002017-08-23T08:22:20.478-07:00UWF 04/05/1989 - MAY HISTORY 1ST (10/31)<b>UWF May History 1st</b><br />
Osaka Stadium, Osaka<br />
4th May 1989<br />
att. 23000<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Whatever you think of Akira Maeda's history of surly non-cooperation or weird booking or the unusual fake-fighting-but-more-real-than-other-fake-fighting style his company/ies offer(s) up you have to admit that 23000 people in a baseball stadium to watch a wrestling company still not 1 year old is <i>incredible</i>. Please, admit it, using the comments below.<br />
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-CZSIa9mX_QM/WZ2IjvtqeMI/AAAAAAAADV4/JSe40zsHY4wT8ahkOoNbb-O-Gwbu-hSRACLcBGAs/s1600/osaka02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="342" data-original-width="594" height="230" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-CZSIa9mX_QM/WZ2IjvtqeMI/AAAAAAAADV4/JSe40zsHY4wT8ahkOoNbb-O-Gwbu-hSRACLcBGAs/s400/osaka02.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
Now to lift the lid on the writerly process a little. Most weeks I sort of watch the shows in sections and write about them mostly from memory and a few scribbled notes, inserting historical and biographical data to keep things contextual. This one is going to be different as, for a change, I am going to type along with the show in-running on a separate screen. No idea how this is going to turn out. I could find myself halfway down a side road when someone breaks out something incredible. To worry about that later.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br />
<a name='more'></a>The opening montage freeze-frames on a still of Masaktsu Funaki and Yoshiaki Fujiwara and then shows both men purposefully striding around backstage. Then Kazuo Yamazaki and Nobuhiko Takada get the same treatment, followed by Akira Maeda and...his opponent...who we don't know as his name does not flash up (I know who it is but I am reporting as if seeing this for the first time, which is probably insincere, and besides it doesn't matter, you are here to see Maeda fight even if his opponent is an assemblage of weather balloons if he deems it a leading martial art exponent).<br />
<br />
After seeing the Osaka Baseball Stadium reasonably full in the terror twilight we get a vigorously be-clapped parade. Mark Rush gets barely any reaction and motions as if to say "what gives, is my sick t-shirt not enough?"<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-abNp1bh_xhA/WZ2FMYotjpI/AAAAAAAADVQ/q6L0IEPbzokMTFiW3HPgA4oDUdpthpnsACEwYBhgL/s1600/osaka03.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="442" data-original-width="559" height="316" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-abNp1bh_xhA/WZ2FMYotjpI/AAAAAAAADVQ/q6L0IEPbzokMTFiW3HPgA4oDUdpthpnsACEwYBhgL/s400/osaka03.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Why have you turned up to work in your street clothes?"<br />
"Sorry Mr. Lanley it won't happen again."</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
The first major pop is for Masakatsu Funaki in his lemon-coloured tracksuit pants and Prince Valiant hairstyle. He is followed by the born-at-the-age-of-45 Yoshiaki Fujiwara who to be utterly fair looks great here until a camera shot that engulfs his entire head in a ball of light. Yamazaki looks more like a dad at a picnic in a UWF shirt with the sleeves cut off, but that is very much his thing, right? To be the dad that could actually kick your schoolyard bully's face off is probably to be a really great dad.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-dsBTl0zGIQk/WZ2FMa3kV7I/AAAAAAAADVc/bolU8yS_vAo-ifutSl-at4bqT0Qm58ZvwCEwYBhgL/s1600/osaka04.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="340" data-original-width="600" height="226" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-dsBTl0zGIQk/WZ2FMa3kV7I/AAAAAAAADVc/bolU8yS_vAo-ifutSl-at4bqT0Qm58ZvwCEwYBhgL/s400/osaka04.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">MURDERDAD</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Suzuki and Funaki make brief orations. Suzuki goofs and Fujiwara smiles for possibly the first time ever. Then Fujiwara speaks, someone you might not think of as "a promo guy". Even so, he lights up Osaka's shoot-style faithful ahead of the first match proper.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-zAVLC61gx2s/WZ2FMWyFdqI/AAAAAAAADVc/hLgSe2rO-eoFq2qjRHbGsUoFxnElzKsbACEwYBhgL/s1600/osaka05.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="357" data-original-width="557" height="256" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-zAVLC61gx2s/WZ2FMWyFdqI/AAAAAAAADVc/hLgSe2rO-eoFq2qjRHbGsUoFxnElzKsbACEwYBhgL/s400/osaka05.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"...turn that sumbitch sideways and stick it STRAIGHT UP..."</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Maeda and his opponent? They don't show.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br />
The opening bout pits <b>Minoru Suzuki</b>, who debuted with defeat on the most recent event at Korakuen Hall, against <b>Shigeo Miyato</b>. There's a lovely stillness in the air before they kick things off, the sound (?) of 23000 in anticipation. Suzuki, with normal hair, in teal trunks and kickpads, wins the aesthetics war over Miyato's new coral and lavender get up. <br />
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Suzuki is shooting for the leg a lot here early. Do you remember early UWF 2 where no one really did that? Suzuki then puts his knee on Miyato's chest and rifles in a few cocky slaps. Miyato gets up and starts kicking wildly but on resumption of grappling it is just way obvious that, regardless of what is being booked, Suzuki is a way better grappler. In a nice mirroring moment, Miyato ends up atop Suzuki and gets in some slaps of his own. That he was in a perfect position to be triangle choked to hell we shall overlook.<br />
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Exchanges of standing slaps that degenerate into clinching. Tentative grapples, Suzuki resisting a side headlock then shoving Miyato against the ropes. Suzuki giving up a cravat position to work a reverse chinlock that Miyato busts out of. It's kind of messy and unfocused, a bit like a Zack Sabre Jr. match. <br />
<br />
(I read a defence of Sabre Jr. that stated that in fights you don't target limbs, you just go for whatever is available. It gave me pause! I like the theory but do wish he was a bit less pantomime about it)<br />
<br />
The two head to the ground. Miyato resists a juji-gatame attempt and then gets caught in something Volk Han-ish as Suzuki is bending the ankle downward as Miyato lies on his back with his legs trapped. They get up and Miyato bounces around as if to say "I ain't hurt" but then Suzuki catches the same damn leg...and then transitions into an armbar. <br />
<br />
They're up again. Miyato drills in a couple of high kicks and then a nice suplex that he fails to transition into a meaningful submission. A brief pause as Miyato's soft leather boots tear at the heel.<br />
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Lot of standing and tussling and exchanging with Miyato getting the better of things. Occasionally Suzuki catches a kick but Miyato fends off a takedown until Suzuki just rushes Miyato with an ungainly-but-effective rugby tackle.<br />
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Then an awesome bit where Suzuki catches a kick and hoists Miyato up and rushes him into the corner and drop kicks the hell out of him and then armdrags him before cinching in a rear naked choke that Miyato slips out of at a rope break. Miyato goes straight on the offensive at the reset with a back suplex and a half crab that Suzuki hits the ropes for. Crowd are all over this one.<br />
<br />
The next stretch is furious with exchanges of rough kicks and slaps not-too-dissimilar to Suzuki's recent New Japan bout with Kazuchika Okada (*****). Suzuki takes a count after getting lit up with a spinning mid-kick, Miyato's favoured late-match technique (it feels wrong to talk of 'finishers' here). The count hits 8 and then Miyato is straight in there with a flurry of limbs and this time Suzuki doesn't make it fully upright. Good match! Way more exciting than a lot of Miyato's recent efforts. Crowd chant SU-ZU-KI! at the conclusion.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">He kicked him so hard he went pixellated</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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You probably didn't know you wanted it at the time but this show features the rematch between <b>Mark Rush</b> aka Macduff Roesch and <b>Yoji Anjo. </b>Rush won the original encounter quite comfortably, but since then Anjo has crested the wave and is surfing straight to the midcard.<br />
<b></b><br />
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<br />
Anjo starts out hot. He kicks Rush and then goads him, "come on!" he says and gestures in a way that will serve him well on holiday in the US in a few years time. Rush switches from cool to furious and then sort of realises he's been had and then goes back to a methodical catch-like anticipation posture.<br />
<br />
(The match has gone to ground so I am eating a banana. Oh shit there was a cool little draggy suplex thing by Anjo).<br />
<br />
Bit of a pro-wrestling sell by Rush after getting up from being kicked on the ground, hobbling and feeling the affected area. I like it! The style allows for bits of both reality and falseness. It's an aesthetic of taste rather than hardline adherence to style, I now realise, live in running as Anjo climbs on Rush's back to apply a sleeper and is flipped forward to the mat. <br />
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-5MmXjm1EFL0/WZ2JwKXnpsI/AAAAAAAADWE/znoYKz46nNspVGHUYqJ-RkaQDJNnZ6eKACEwYBhgL/s1600/osaka13.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="393" data-original-width="508" height="308" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-5MmXjm1EFL0/WZ2JwKXnpsI/AAAAAAAADWE/znoYKz46nNspVGHUYqJ-RkaQDJNnZ6eKACEwYBhgL/s400/osaka13.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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They play on the strength vs. speed/cunning dynamic a lot in one bit where Anjo again nips around Rush's back and Rush just sort of reaches back there like performing a butt-scratch and throws Anjo in a single fluid motion that is quite cartoonish but also great. As a total contrast, Rush catches Anjo again and performs the perfunctory bodyslam of every WWF wrestling match of the mid-80s. This time the crowd deflates. <br />
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-nrZlb2KdBpI/WZ2Jwb-VSII/AAAAAAAADWI/gEGNukqeJKs-P17YV9QmlxZNvrlYGK77QCEwYBhgL/s1600/osaka14.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="394" data-original-width="483" height="326" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-nrZlb2KdBpI/WZ2Jwb-VSII/AAAAAAAADWI/gEGNukqeJKs-P17YV9QmlxZNvrlYGK77QCEwYBhgL/s400/osaka14.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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(I just had a phonecall but kept the match running and there are loads of pro-wrestling bits in this between the increasing frequency of strike exchanges, stalling suplexes and just picking up and throwing, the crowd are sort of mixed on the whole thing but generally Anjo gets away with it. He throws a suplex and gets a rear choke in and Rush taps! Stupid phonecall. Decent match. Rush's best one so far.)<br />
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My disc only contained these two bouts. Fortunately Youtube has the remainder though the transfer seems unideal. Let's power on. The images will probably suck.<br />
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In an occurrence not seen since the opening night, two debutants square off against one another as <b>Masakatsu Funaki</b> takes on mentor<b> Yoshiaki Fujiwara</b>. Funaki, handsome, in a red headband, is adored on his way to the ring. Then Fujiwara walks out and two words flash up on the screen that make me laugh like a drain in dire need of unclogging.<br />
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Fujiwara is about 40 here which I think seems to actually be about the prime for most wrestlers who aren't dependent on high-flying: the physical gifts are all there, there's a load of history to draw from, and the experience factor that makes for good pro-wrestling psychology. Not only that, with the introduction of Fujiwara and his two pupils (Funaki and Suzuki) we are starting to actually see the end of this version of UWF and the beginning of MMA. In short: important and good.<br />
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-3k7s6ZLkl1I/WZ2LccR2gZI/AAAAAAAADWg/oQUIZTAgxX87hd3T_CiJCT4g8lXe6JoJQCLcBGAs/s1600/osaka18.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="595" height="302" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-3k7s6ZLkl1I/WZ2LccR2gZI/AAAAAAAADWg/oQUIZTAgxX87hd3T_CiJCT4g8lXe6JoJQCLcBGAs/s400/osaka18.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Fujiwara comes jittering out like a shocked crab whilst Funaki does some fancy spinning air-kick shit and the crowd are just electric. When they lock horns they go straight to intense and fluid grapples, with Funaki trying to young hulk the master but Fujiwara just always able to find a loose limb to catch hold of or a way of rolling through into a better position. There just seems to be an intent and ability to communicate this really subtle thing - finding a submission on the ground - to a stadium audience. In a ground position stalemate Funaki starts booting the shit out of Fujiwara and man this is goooooooood.<br />
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Next up is Fujiwara going for His Armbar (can't remember the name) but Funaki scouts it and slips underneath and grabs Fujiwara's arm and starts wrenching it this way and that. Fujiwara retreats within himself (you can see it, it is a thing he does, unlike the lower card guys) and works patiently before finding a way to drive Funaki to the mat. He applies a wristlock using the same facial expression that Suzuki does as a latter-day pro-wrestler, full of piss and vinegar and taunting and yes this one is really gooooooooood.<br />
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-EdGegkNOHc0/WZ2Lb6kz3GI/AAAAAAAADWU/_q0sZw9t_A0iazN1i3g1D3zMDOmiGcZxQCEwYBhgL/s1600/osaka15.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="517" height="367" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-EdGegkNOHc0/WZ2Lb6kz3GI/AAAAAAAADWU/_q0sZw9t_A0iazN1i3g1D3zMDOmiGcZxQCEwYBhgL/s400/osaka15.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Fujiwara gets Funaki in a seated rear choke but puts his own head too far forward (lift the shoulders, says Bas Rutten, it increases the torque and keeps your head out of danger) and for his troubles gets a knee to the noggin. Fujiwara takes a count and then gets up clutching his head. Fake out! He slaps Funaki but his opponent starts going mad with a flurry of kicks. Fujiwara stays upright and bundles his student into the corner and tanks him with a slap or three and man this one is goooooooooooooooooooooooooooood.<br />
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The next phase occurs mostly on the ground, with an exchange of leglocks, perhaps some down time to build up for a final sprint? Even this work has some meaning and grit about it. They go back to standing and Funaki shoots Fujiwara's legs as the latter tries to shy away, resulting in Fujiwara face down and Funaki grinding him from on top with youthful spirit. They stand again and Fujiwara seems way more wary, backing off, keeping out of strike range, aware of his opponent's gifts. Funaki pursues and of course Fujiwara was playing possum, though the trick does not fully work.<br />
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Funaki is taking quite the stretch here, dishing out a side suplex and a couple of slaps and an armbar attempt on the floor. Fujiwara gets out of it with a slap and then, as the two recover the upright, Fujiwara headbutts Funaki right on the chin and knocks him down but not all the way out. The referee waves it off. The crowd seems surprised. Some of them even boo.<br />
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-zoQ67bzIlh8/WZ2LcJHPhBI/AAAAAAAADWc/MD3Dc9ydIGQfUHHRy35pGvwPjqFYQ6evACEwYBhgL/s1600/osaka17.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="408" data-original-width="535" height="305" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-zoQ67bzIlh8/WZ2LcJHPhBI/AAAAAAAADWc/MD3Dc9ydIGQfUHHRy35pGvwPjqFYQ6evACEwYBhgL/s400/osaka17.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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It's a surprise ending for sure. Even Fujiwara is kind of like "this shouldn't be over"...and they carry on! Bit weird. Fujiwara dumps Funaki in a back suplex, applies a cross kneelock, and then Funaki taps within 30 seconds of the restart. Fujiwara seems displeased at the reaction and holds up Funaki's hand. I think I preferred the original wrong ending to the attempt at covering the tracks. Either way this was really great.<br />
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<b>Nobuhiko Takada</b> and <b>Kazuo Yamazaki</b> are apparently immune to having bad matches with one another across either the original UWF, New Japan, or this version of the UWF. This is their third bout in this UWF thus far, with both men already having registered trilogies against Akira Maeda. Indeed, Takada's last recorded match in UWF was two shows ago against Yamazaki. In the intervening two-and-a-bit months it appears that Takada has spent a lot of time lifting things. He looks much squarer in the shoulder and generally thicker, though it must be said the youtube transfer of this VHS is really grainy.<br />
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No feeling out process: both men kick. Takada's kicks are meaty whilst Yamazaki, a student of Satoru Sayama and therefore a possible reason for Maeda continually wrecking the guy, throws kicks that are needlepoint and sharp. After some distance measuring, Yamazaki shoots, but is rejected by Takada's sheer buffness.<br />
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-fM7z8PODUP8/WZ2V6QwY8fI/AAAAAAAADW0/-5nj-H683QMv0PQYtdlrUGenz1sCyKImQCEwYBhgL/s1600/osaka19.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="357" data-original-width="560" height="255" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-fM7z8PODUP8/WZ2V6QwY8fI/AAAAAAAADW0/-5nj-H683QMv0PQYtdlrUGenz1sCyKImQCEwYBhgL/s400/osaka19.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Some groundwork ensues to a lone call leader chanting TA-KA-DA! After Funaki & Fujiwara the groundwork game has been raised, though Yamazaki elicits some oohs and aahs for a couple of nifty reversals and get-outs. A lot of groundwork follows and it is all at least compelling and gritty.<br />
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They stand and Takada hits a pro-wrestling style powerslam that the crowd seem split on. Yamazaki hits a Seio-Otoshi that the crowd are more equivocal in their enthusiasm for: they love it. They then go back to feeling out and then Yamazaki hits a sick kick after feinting for a grapple, one of many small reasons Yamazaki rules. He then goes completely wild with kicks in the corner on a stricken Takada. A miss sees Takada go HAM with kicks, scoring a knockdown to a six count. It's on!<br />
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-GH_3uD0rEMs/WZ2XK8VcG6I/AAAAAAAADW8/yR3DzeqSITQqlbanZTBHTz4pCoFddb4lQCLcBGAs/s1600/osaka20.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="415" data-original-width="603" height="275" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-GH_3uD0rEMs/WZ2XK8VcG6I/AAAAAAAADW8/yR3DzeqSITQqlbanZTBHTz4pCoFddb4lQCLcBGAs/s400/osaka20.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Yamazaki's sloppy resumption sees him end up in a half-crab. He makes the ropes and the rope break graphic flashes up for the first time in the show despite there being quite a few rope breaks already. Will this factor into the finish?<br />
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A natty callback to the first match as Yamazaki catches a kick and dinks the groin of Takada, just as Takada did to Yamazaki except it was to the inner knee in a spot that still haunts my poor-knee-infested dreams. <br />
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20 mins in and they're still back and forth with kicks and slaps when Takada catches Yamazaki full flush with a kick for another six count knockdown. Yamazaki gets up, looking groggy, and returns the favour. Takada stays down for four and then gets immediately up and goes straight back on the attack. Yamazaki tries to throw a palm strike and Takada wraps him in a triangle choke attempt that resolves in a rope break (#2 for Yamazaki).<br />
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Yamazaki starts to wear Takada down in a chancery but the babyface power of Takada sees him power through such attempts at draining and force a waki-gatame attempt of his own. Yamazaki slides out and then lays beefy kicks in that scatter Takada to the mat for a third knockdown (I missed one in the excitement, apologies). Takada gets up but immediately wishes he hadn't as Yamazaki boots him in the mid-section a number of times in succession. A quick grappling exchange sees Takada slide into a funny kesa-gatame attempt that sees Yamazaki resort to a third rope break, which counts as a knockdown and it is three apiece.<br />
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Fuck damn the ending is just going off as I am typing this shit and we get to four knockdowns apiece with some sick suplexes and kicks and the crowd are like WWWWWWWWHHHHHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA as Yamazaki fights the certain death of a Dragon Suplex. Takada takes it to the mat and hits the half crab and for a moment Yamazaki looks dead but he rolls out without needing the ropes at all.<br />
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Ot17GhTG5gk/WZ2XzIsKpaI/AAAAAAAADXI/05qe-yaJ79kdhHpTjj3omVcQxVHootXswCLcBGAs/s1600/osaka22.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="413" data-original-width="597" height="276" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Ot17GhTG5gk/WZ2XzIsKpaI/AAAAAAAADXI/05qe-yaJ79kdhHpTjj3omVcQxVHootXswCLcBGAs/s400/osaka22.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Both get up and Yamazaki just tees off with left kicks and right kicks and Takada eats mat and there is the fifth knockdown and Yamazaki wins by TKO in a frigging AWESOME match! As good as their first one for sure and I'm pretty sure it has the same ending but WHO CARES THIS IS GREEEEEEEEEEATTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT!<br />
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Takada bows to Yamazaki at the end and leaves the ring to the winner. Classy. Great stuff all around. Probably going to get Maeda-Yamazaki IV now.<br />
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Whatever happens between <b>Akira Maeda</b> and his mystery opponent won't kill the quality of this show. However, if it is a good match, then I think we have a solid contender for the best UWF show thus far (trumping the weird one with all the shoot-boxing that I nonetheless enjoyed).<br />
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Pre-match pyro and a spectacular light show worthy of Tangerine Dream hype the crowd before we meet (in video form) our star guest. Here are his words:<br />
<blockquote>
My name is Chris Dolman. I'm from Holland. I am 1m 87cm. My weight is 116kg. And I do martial arts for...about...30 years. Today I am going to beat Maeda in the second round with the leglock which of course is my speciality. It is a special grip for me, which I have beaten all my opponents with in the last three years.</blockquote>
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<b>Chris Dolman</b>'s wikipedia entry shows an impressive back catalogue of achievement in greco-roman, judo, and sambo - as well as where he may have picked up the Different Style fight bug from, seconding judoka Willem Ruska in his fight with Antonio Inoki. But it is Dolman's future (from the perspective of this fight) tournament win in RINGS that reminds me that <a href="http://tkscissors.blogspot.co.uk/2016/10/rings-51191-astral-step-1st-spirit-u.html">TK Scissors has written extensively about Dolman's shoot-style work</a>, adding a little extra depth to Dolman's CV in the process:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Dolman really is very good, though, as one would perhaps expect of a two-time Dutch national judo champion and known pal of Willem Ruska. I have just now learned that he is also a tenth-degree black belt in Kyokushin karate, widely acknowledged to be the illest karate. </blockquote>
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As TK Scissors learns, we learn too.<br />
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So Dolman here is in a gi (red jacket, dark trousers) and looking pretty firepluggish whilst Maeda retains the physique that would leave him in the mid-90s. Maeda has previously defeated savate and kenpo, whilst Yamazaki defeated kickboxing, but here Maeda is apparently attempting to prove his pro-wrestling to be stronger than someone who is basically good at every kind of legitimate striking and grappling. Best of luck champ!<br />
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-xmWGDAb0oNk/WZ2ZJdNLUYI/AAAAAAAADXQ/cQY2j72d2ls2I02zbAAzknl_1iJN2qFBwCEwYBhgL/s1600/osaka23.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="389" data-original-width="594" height="261" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-xmWGDAb0oNk/WZ2ZJdNLUYI/AAAAAAAADXQ/cQY2j72d2ls2I02zbAAzknl_1iJN2qFBwCEwYBhgL/s400/osaka23.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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The VHS transfer makes Dolman look like a giant Nick Nolte which is an observation I had time to make as the first round sees a whole lot of not much happening. They attempt to grapple, someone gets backed up in a corner, and not a whit of judo or karate make themselves known. A round of posturing and feeling. Dolman has like 4 burly Dutch guys in his corner. Hey, free holiday.<br />
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More happens in the first six seconds of round two than in all of round one. Maeda gets trapped in a - nay, THE - leglock and frantically scurries for the rope. When they stand up, Maeda hits a clumsy ogoshi on Dolman, this man of highest level judo.<br />
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ZrWC2cSRadE/WZ2ZJWa3zHI/AAAAAAAADXU/zMJi18yVHcMwFMWzG3X-WOOb5cqEKZGKwCEwYBhgL/s1600/osaka24.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="402" data-original-width="554" height="290" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ZrWC2cSRadE/WZ2ZJWa3zHI/AAAAAAAADXU/zMJi18yVHcMwFMWzG3X-WOOb5cqEKZGKwCEwYBhgL/s400/osaka24.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Ego and music does nothing for me as a combination, but that kind of ego in wrestling is usually A++++. The disparity in judo ability is displayed when Dolman hits a harai goshi with a natural efficiency and ability. A good round.<br />
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Round three sees Maeda taking over and Dolman backing up or trying to shut the fight down, evading Maeda's looping kicks that chase both head and upper thigh. Dolman is puffing, probably not specifically conditioned for the weird rigours of a shoot-style bout. His best offence comes from a charge featured in none of his own sports-of-expertise that pins Maeda to the ropes before the bell sounds with a hollow metallic clank.<br />
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Round four goes like this: Maeda kick. Maeda kick. Capture suplex. Cross kneelock. Pro-wrestling reigns supreme, all other martial arts are null and void. The crowd chant MA-E-DA! MA-E-DA! as one and camera shots show them to be utterly jubilant at what was otherwise a tepid bout. Maeda raises Dolman's hand as we see Anjo and Fujiwara milling about the ring in the post-match. Maeda grabs a big trophy and holds it aloft and the show closes with a highlight reel of the final match, showing both of the moves that occurred YYYYYYEAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHhhhhh!<br />
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-wLm_aKH9dEU/WZ2ZJ-6KL9I/AAAAAAAADXc/Kq_xunDXBxINXent96Kxw_tnwNrZq020ACEwYBhgL/s1600/osaka26.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="389" data-original-width="592" height="262" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-wLm_aKH9dEU/WZ2ZJ-6KL9I/AAAAAAAADXc/Kq_xunDXBxINXent96Kxw_tnwNrZq020ACEwYBhgL/s400/osaka26.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<b>NEXT</b>: two debuts and a returning megastar!</div>
D. Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14629124673589292567noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6812605115270563531.post-11239724367176978272017-07-31T13:36:00.001-07:002017-09-04T02:07:03.601-07:00UWF 14/04/1989 - CORE THE FIRST ANNIVERSARY (09/31)<b>UWF Core The First Anniversary</b><br />
Korakuen Hall, Tokyo<br />
14th April 1989<br />
att. 2400<br />
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The lord works in mysterious ways. You're trying to think of an opening to the newest entry in your blog of microscopic importance (avg. 100 readers, probably 65 too many, need to think of ways of shedding some of you) and then God herself hands you a doozie:</div>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
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Here's the full KakiRide card <a href="https://t.co/l0y4xQMJQY">pic.twitter.com/l0y4xQMJQY</a></div>
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— 日本 Audio Wrestling (@jaudiowrestling) <a href="https://twitter.com/jaudiowrestling/status/889366236668215296">July 24, 2017</a></div>
</blockquote>
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Why - yes - that IS UWF's very own Tatsuo Nakano coming out of the woodpile for a special charity shoot-style show. But what of these other names, you ask. I put on my trilby and take my katana (<span class="st">刀)</span> down from its special holster on the wall and, with a satisfied smile, and monologue freely about the importance of the blockchain.</div>
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<a name='more'></a>UWF's birthday is rapidly approaching and this show sort of celebrates that fact by taking the company back to the place where it all began, on the fifth floor of an office block in Suidobashi. However an opening graphic seems to not be sure what year the company began in:</div>
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After this light cock-up there are inset graphics of each of the sextet I have now come to brand the "shoot-style six": Yoji Anjo, Shigeo Miyato, Tatsuo Nakano, Kazuo Yamazaki, Nobuhiko Takada, and Akira Maeda. Then some fancy editing occurs as if to suggest that we now stride boldly into a new era (and not before time) by presenting the following images: </div>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-p6B9Vm-Q0vc/WXuyUrwnj9I/AAAAAAAADSE/wMvByXLGZO0cJWjPoiuvOJXk6tqBG01xACLcBGAs/s1600/ctf02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="388" data-original-width="588" height="263" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-p6B9Vm-Q0vc/WXuyUrwnj9I/AAAAAAAADSE/wMvByXLGZO0cJWjPoiuvOJXk6tqBG01xACLcBGAs/s400/ctf02.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-hQ21TJweTec/WXuyU2DnpVI/AAAAAAAADSI/vkmcUS2gDWwz2NMIlsK9YLBFlFT_UqwQQCLcBGAs/s1600/ctf03.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="430" data-original-width="624" height="275" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-hQ21TJweTec/WXuyU2DnpVI/AAAAAAAADSI/vkmcUS2gDWwz2NMIlsK9YLBFlFT_UqwQQCLcBGAs/s400/ctf03.jpg" width="400" /> </a></div>
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Takada and Maeda are interviewed after this announcement and both enunciate in a way that, after many years of studying the art of promo-cutting in Japanese, suggests that they have high hopes for these young guys but hope they can cut it in some of the best wrestling around. </div>
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There is then a full parade to a great hand from the full house. The original six come out first and then Minoru Suzuki emerges to a solid cheer. After this, Masakatsu Funaki comes out and the places erupts just as when Maeda batters some half-smartened foreign proponent of a marginal martial art. Maeda speaks and then cedes the mic to the princely Funaki and my god they <i>love</i> him in a way that bodes well for UWF now and also illustrates why maybe too many egos killed this whole thing.</div>
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-8FEcOfXFGvs/WXuyVcxpsWI/AAAAAAAADSM/XAzm4QJievACm9eSlfHLnGDnuSf21xwvgCLcBGAs/s1600/ctf04.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="387" data-original-width="636" height="242" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-8FEcOfXFGvs/WXuyVcxpsWI/AAAAAAAADSM/XAzm4QJievACm9eSlfHLnGDnuSf21xwvgCLcBGAs/s400/ctf04.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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The show starts with one of our newcomers, <b>Minoru Suzuki</b>. This is a different Suzuki than some newer readers will be familiar with through his work in the 2010s as a freelance professional wrestler working chiefly for New Japan Pro Wrestling. This is Suzuki after being an alternate for the Japanese Olympic team in freestyle wrestling, but before the pioneering of MMA, before the reign as King of Pancrase, before kicking the crap of out a post-brain tumoured Jushin Liger, before "The Man With The Worst Personality In The World", before becoming AJPW's Triple Crown champion, or NOAH's GHC Champion, or having incredible pro-wrestling matches with the likes of Hiroshi Tanahashi, Kazushi Sakuraba, Kazuchika Okada, or AJ Styles. In his latter career I'd rank him among my favourite wrestlers. But this is a long time ago!</div>
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This Suzuki has hair and wears nice blue trunks and blue kickpads over blue Asics Tigers. Opposite him stands <b>Yoji Anjo</b>. Riding a little hot streak, the exuberant "Mr. 200%" is unbeaten in 1989. It's an interesting match-up for keen fans of certain long-running personal stories, with this representing the commencement of a narrative arc of Japanese professional wrestling that would end at <a href="http://puroresuspirit.net/2015/03/yoji-anjo-retirement-show-results-for-march-19/">Anjo's retirement show</a> in this very building, with Suzuki delivering Anjo's final professional fall.</div>
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For approximately ten minutes there is nothing particularly notable about the match the two are having. This is a feature of UWF cards since the commencement of the promotion: the opening shoot-wrestling bout lasts for at least 18 minutes, the first half of which is hushed groundwork and tentative striking and evenly-matched standing grappling.<br />
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9ue2BXmMLEg/WX-CsTXsbQI/AAAAAAAADTA/KHTnj063sO8jYywjInwmEl_5bvvx15nzACLcBGAs/s1600/ctf06.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="417" data-original-width="584" height="285" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9ue2BXmMLEg/WX-CsTXsbQI/AAAAAAAADTA/KHTnj063sO8jYywjInwmEl_5bvvx15nzACLcBGAs/s400/ctf06.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Of course UWF could not know of a future where a person might attempt to consume all of its shows in a short space of time. And feel free to invoke the notion that people of 2017 have a lower threshold for boredom borne out of a society that allows them constant entertainment 24/7 (sounding like a particularly-shitty Arcade Fire record here). But research suggests that UWF's booking style of lengthy opening matches between relative novices or unknowns flew in the face of 1989 too. From the same month as this show (April 1989), here are a selection of opening matches and their timings:</div>
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Norio Honaga vs. Hirokazu Hata (11.21)<br />
Young Lions Cup First Round, NJPW Battle Line Tokyo Dome</div>
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Dan Kroffat, Harley Race, and Joel Deaton vs. Giant Baba, Rusher Kimura, and Kenta Kobashi (11.27)<br />
AJPW Champion Carnival Day 17<br />
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Mr. Perfect vs. The Blue Blazer (15.42)<br />
WWF On Tele+2</div>
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Bucky Siegler & Dick Murdoch vs. Bob Orton Jr. & Butch Reed (4.53)<br />
NWA World Championship Wrestling</div>
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Hercules vs. King Haku (6.57)<br />
WWF Wrestlemania V</div>
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Fatu and Samu (The Samoan SWAT Team) vs. Bobby Eaton & Stan Lane (The Midnight Express) (20.32)<br />
NWA Clash of the Champions 6: Ragin' Cajun!</div>
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A-ha, you might be thinking, what about that last bout? Or the Perfect-Blazer bout. Well sure they're on the long side. But Perfect was a star of the AWA and WWF. And The Blue Blazer was Owen Hart. And that tag bout from Clash of the Champions was the blow-off to a feud that had built on television amped up by hot air enthusiasts Paul Heyman and Jim Cornette.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-BOLUaAgS-CY/WX-DfyWDs1I/AAAAAAAADTM/Oh6PN3vIdhwYoUTdviVatKht_lYEsGk3wCLcBGAs/s1600/19890912_rikishi_USE.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="506" data-original-width="900" height="223" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-BOLUaAgS-CY/WX-DfyWDs1I/AAAAAAAADTM/Oh6PN3vIdhwYoUTdviVatKht_lYEsGk3wCLcBGAs/s400/19890912_rikishi_USE.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Also I am going to be a future star and run over a hero of yours YEAHHH"</td></tr>
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Then things become a little uncanny. The only match that seems to generally correspond with this UWF approach (which I am not criticising <i>per se</i>!) is from an obscure independent show also held at Korakuen Hall by another small troupe of people exited from a major company to pursue a separate vision that in a way is kind of a Bizarro UWF. </div>
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This was a two match show held under the name Pioneer Senshi, referred to in some places as Japan's first independent wrestling company. Pioneer Senshi's wrestlers had quit All Japan in the same way UWF's had left New Japan. The Cagematch database lists this company as running from 1988-1990 (same as UWF) and from wider research appears to have run more than the single show contained within that excellent website's records. I have just watched a match from a Pioneer Senshi show and the work appears to bear some relationship to UWF but is not shoot-style.</div>
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To sidebar further (please skip this if you're just looking for the UWF stuff) in a way that I never planned to start writing about but I've done it now and I cannot be bothered deleting it: it seems that around this era there are several start-ups/upstarts emerging in the Japanese wrestling industry. Pioneer Senshi's top draw? Atsushi Onita. He would create Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling (FMW) in 1989. Super World of Sports (SWS) would be created in 1990 by the freelancer Genichiro Tenryu and New Japan exile George Takano. Freelancer and lucha libre enthusiast Gran Hamada began Federacion Universal de Lucha Libra (FULL) in 1990 in front of a full Korakuen Hall. Wrestling International New Generations (W*ING) commenced in 1991 featuring ex-Pioneer Senshi talents not long after Takada's UWF-I would commence featuring ex-UWF talents. </div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-gaRis9AIcaw/WX9_BY1CzMI/AAAAAAAADSk/vR9QCQTU3gc07OxWYQlO4YWzJc5POlzEQCLcBGAs/s1600/ctf05.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="986" data-original-width="1292" height="305" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-gaRis9AIcaw/WX9_BY1CzMI/AAAAAAAADSk/vR9QCQTU3gc07OxWYQlO4YWzJc5POlzEQCLcBGAs/s400/ctf05.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"What this country needs, lads, is more of this..."</td></tr>
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From here until the middle of the decade we would see Akira Maeda commence RINGS, Funaki and Suzuki in Pro Wrestling Fujiwara Gumi (PWFG), Takano try again in Kendo Nagasaki's Network of Wrestling (NOW), Tenryu try again with Wrestle Association-R (WAR), The Great Sasuke start up the evergreen Michinoku Pro, the creation of Independent Wrestling Alliance (IWA) by Pioneer Senshi worker Ryuma Go (who also created Ryuma Go Pro), Takano trying again with his brother Shunji in Pro Wrestling Crusaders (PWC), ex-AJPW and SWS alumni Yoshiaki Yatsu commencing Social Pro (SPWF), the creation of the Independent Wrestling Union by ex-SWS worker Kishin Kawabata, the birth of deathmatch company IWA Japan and finally, in 1995, the start of Big Japan Pro Wrestling. A number of regional companies were also formed, such as Tokyo Pro, who would feature workers responsible for the creation of Dragon Gate and Dramatic Dream Team (and its multiple sub-promotions). There are similar parallels in women's wrestling.</div>
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The point that I am bluffing my way through is this: that the original UWF's little upstart antics back in 1984 (as well as Riki Choshu's own Japan Pro, which runs between 1984 and 1987 and features workers who would later feature in Pioneer Senshi) haven't just unwittingly led to the shoot-style genre and the birth of MMA, but that they are something of the spirit germ of the independent rise/complete fragmentation (depends on your perspective) in the Japanese wrestling scene.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jQERCCgA8WU/WX9_DrBUsII/AAAAAAAADSo/24mQMs9AcXAv7o4Oifxr6M1HZIi5W_Y5wCEwYBhgL/s1600/babainoki.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="380" data-original-width="600" height="252" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jQERCCgA8WU/WX9_DrBUsII/AAAAAAAADSo/24mQMs9AcXAv7o4Oifxr6M1HZIi5W_Y5wCEwYBhgL/s400/babainoki.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Geniuses? Suppressors?</td></tr>
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Of course there are other factors in play. The absolute peak of the Japanese economy and the evolution of the television market are simultaneously occurring. The strict loyalty-based companies at the top of the pile would often refuse the return of workers, leading to independence and a different route becoming a necessity. And the narrative of an easy two-promotion stability that exploded is too smooth. Yes, Rikidozan's JWA ruled the roost from its inception in 1952 until the departure of its major stars Giant Baba and Antonio Inoki in 1972. But Rikidozan's death in 1963 created the opportunity for International Wrestling Enterprise (IWE) to find a place in the market in 1966 using JWA's other major domestic star Toyonobori. IWE ran until 1981, its influence waning as Baba's All Japan and Inoki's New Japan grew stronger and attracted the best foreign stars and trained the next cadre of superstar domestic workers.<br />
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(edit: I have since learned about a couple of other early promotions, post-JWA, pre-Inoki/Baba split, in particular the Masahiko Kimura-led International Pro Wrestling Force (IPWF) that was absorbed back into the JWA) </div>
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So it appears to be the case that from 1968 (when All Japan Women formed) up until the creation of both UWF 2 and Pioneer Senshi in 1988 that there had not been one year of wrestling activity where at least three, and sometimes four or five) companies had not been active. It seems natural that somebody would rush to fill that hole using the established method of Japanese wrestling culture at the time: jumping ship from a place and commencing a company based around the notion of a difference in style. But it does not explain why from 1989 to 1995 there is a continued breaking apart of the wrestling panorama; why a loose hegemony of three companies become 8, 10, 12 companies. And why these companies were suddenly being set up not by established stars but often younger workers seeking a new arena for their style. It's a topic worthy of serious inquiry. </div>
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However, to bring things back around a little: the Pioneer Senshi match in question pitted Apollo Sugawara against Masahiko Takagi and was recorded at 16 minutes in length. Sugawara would later make minor insider waves after it was reported that he was 'shot on' (beaten up for real after not co-operating) in a match in the ill-fated SWS promotion by...Minoru Suzuki. Watch from 7.30 onwards as shit really starts to fall apart:<br />
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What a neat sidebar and segue that was. Moral of the story: UWF's opening matches are longer than most, and also they seemed to kick off more madness than just shoot-style.<br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1UXGbslBi1o/WX-CzviMF6I/AAAAAAAADTE/Yvu2Q2cOIJoPJ8AphFB7HEt8ty6Cw_ifQCLcBGAs/s1600/ctf08.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="574" height="277" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1UXGbslBi1o/WX-CzviMF6I/AAAAAAAADTE/Yvu2Q2cOIJoPJ8AphFB7HEt8ty6Cw_ifQCLcBGAs/s400/ctf08.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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The second half of Anjo-Suzuki is much more interesting. It's interesting to see Suzuki fight as if he is a Young Lion of NJPW in 2017, with a slightly angsty earnestness to perform well and show his enthusiasm even in defeat. He's got nice suplexes and the dropkick that he throws to this day. He even sells like a babyface and it's cute to see given how the years have shaped him. Nonetheless the night is not his: the finish comes when Anjo hits a fairly pro-wrestling style inverted backbreaker and then cinches in a choke. Solid match and a good UWF debut.</div>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4Ap8Clb_sRc/WX-Cjw3uCII/AAAAAAAADS8/jQIMdTQnp3YFBVnZAo-UXROQ-NOJeZdFQCLcBGAs/s1600/ctf07.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="441" data-original-width="573" height="307" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4Ap8Clb_sRc/WX-Cjw3uCII/AAAAAAAADS8/jQIMdTQnp3YFBVnZAo-UXROQ-NOJeZdFQCLcBGAs/s400/ctf07.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Match four in the lopsided series between <b>Shigeo Miyato</b> and <b>Tatsuo Nakano</b> takes place, with those keeping score well aware that Miyato leads 2-0 with a tie that Nakano would never have won had the fight got on another hour. There are pre-match interviews where Nakano comes across monosyllabic and even in the seconds before the bell he looks deeply unimpressed with life:<br />
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-s8Q72WvMhvE/WX-FE7Tu51I/AAAAAAAADTQ/CBe61IOxsmk640vmwqYjE4KDi08Ba-luwCLcBGAs/s1600/ctf09.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="432" data-original-width="580" height="297" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-s8Q72WvMhvE/WX-FE7Tu51I/AAAAAAAADTQ/CBe61IOxsmk640vmwqYjE4KDi08Ba-luwCLcBGAs/s400/ctf09.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Though the match goes the customary 20 minutes allotted to Miyato and Nakano, this feels like the match that their Fire Pro computer vs. computer simulation promised that they would have that led them to be booked against each other so often.<br />
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-NYs6ZxDh2RY/WX-MjM7C89I/AAAAAAAADT4/kU7idAm57l46BIVoHA1-Tie2u_gA93tYACLcBGAs/s1600/ctf14.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="576" height="277" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-NYs6ZxDh2RY/WX-MjM7C89I/AAAAAAAADT4/kU7idAm57l46BIVoHA1-Tie2u_gA93tYACLcBGAs/s400/ctf14.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Nakano comes out hot and looking for vengeance, throwing little slaps and kicks. This is Nakano at his best. Nakano is not a grappler. He can grapple, but in grappling-style matches he shows little of the imagination that made a Backlund, a Suzuki, or a Yamazaki a fun shoot-style grappler. When he's waddling about and throwing heavy-legged kicks, he's as thrilling as anyone, and the joy is written all over his face.<br />
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Miyato grinds the match down on the floor in some control segments that border on the patience-testing. But Nakano is looking more to stand-up and let rip. The new dynamic leads to small gems such as this:<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ZObmFULBjlQ/WX-KGCAgYrI/AAAAAAAADTo/KlG0feBTNZElu4ydTgOSJEDX-zUmmGslgCLcBGAs/s1600/ctf12.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="410" data-original-width="563" height="291" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ZObmFULBjlQ/WX-KGCAgYrI/AAAAAAAADTo/KlG0feBTNZElu4ydTgOSJEDX-zUmmGslgCLcBGAs/s400/ctf12.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">nope</td></tr>
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Nakano's eagerness to go on the attack brings out the beast in his opponent. After throwing a bunch of trademark spinkicks, Miyato wins after scoring a brutal knockdown and then charging his recuperating opponent, downing him with a kick and then securing a triangle.<br />
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Even if their series is even-more lopsided now, this was the best match of their lower card rivalry to date, filled with surprises and gnarly suplexes and interesting new twists on established patterns. The introduction of the five knockdown rule (and remembering to actually use it) really helps this match establish a heightening tension that was missing previously.</div>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-IU7_SB5Zgyo/WX-NGo6E7aI/AAAAAAAADT8/ubsjSaRG5iYHTXGJb9FPxeLIUmj1LnbCgCLcBGAs/s1600/ctf15.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="435" data-original-width="597" height="291" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-IU7_SB5Zgyo/WX-NGo6E7aI/AAAAAAAADT8/ubsjSaRG5iYHTXGJb9FPxeLIUmj1LnbCgCLcBGAs/s400/ctf15.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Nakano refuses the post-match handshake, rolling out of the ring and stomping off to the back. The feud continues? Surely not. No wait. Probably will.<br />
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The main event of this short show is the third entry in the annals of the rivalry between <b>Akira Maeda</b> and <b>Kazuo Yamazaki</b>. Maeda, 2-0 up in the series so far, has been restored to the top of the tree by bettering Nobuhiko Takada two months previously. Takada beat Yamazaki on the previous card, seemingly cementing Yamazaki as the enforcer of the upper midcard, the Arn Anderson, the guy who can give you a great match and generally seem like the real deal, but who isn't going anywhere beyond the place he's at right now.<br />
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Both are interviewed beforehand. Yamazaki does the earnest vlogger look, straight down the camera, whilst Maeda sits 3/4 on like a member of a late 80s shoegaze band, hunched over and affecting a distant disposition. <br />
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They start out having a good little match that kicks up into another gear on 8 minutes as a furious battery of kicks by Yamazaki to a kneeling Maeda is returned with interest. Yamazaki takes a down, cannily waiting up to 9 even though he is fine by 5, before roaring back into the contest.</div>
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Then just as the match is on its way to being a classic, the train leaps the track. Maeda catches Yamazaki's kick and hooks in for the trademark Capture Suplex. Yamazaki headbutts the attempt off and busts himself open royally.</div>
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-iEK4zJj1MOY/WX-Snop1Q1I/AAAAAAAADUQ/3G7PjqUfWEoniff7x-xmoNDnSH1UMc8hwCLcBGAs/s1600/ctf17.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="338" data-original-width="539" height="250" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-iEK4zJj1MOY/WX-Snop1Q1I/AAAAAAAADUQ/3G7PjqUfWEoniff7x-xmoNDnSH1UMc8hwCLcBGAs/s400/ctf17.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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You can tell he isn't faking it because he clutches his head, pouring with blood, almost instantly. For his troubles Maeda hits a German Suplex. Yamazaki tries to calm the match down by hitting what passes in UWF as a rest-hold. The referee spots the wound and asks the doctor to take a look.<br />
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-rRNTnP3KCkw/WX-SnGRB29I/AAAAAAAADUI/POJHxFTaOpoeTctNgZwxIzIKkfuSyBeogCLcBGAs/s1600/ctf18.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="408" data-original-width="594" height="273" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-rRNTnP3KCkw/WX-SnGRB29I/AAAAAAAADUI/POJHxFTaOpoeTctNgZwxIzIKkfuSyBeogCLcBGAs/s400/ctf18.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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It's grim. And even Maeda looks concerned. If it's an angle then it is brilliantly executed. But it doesn't feel like it.<br />
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ozNNMowtGt4/WX-SoH_MqVI/AAAAAAAADUU/qWnRHS5knycn38i69ALkRWnPHdnQ1ABaACLcBGAs/s1600/ctf20.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="433" data-original-width="597" height="290" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ozNNMowtGt4/WX-SoH_MqVI/AAAAAAAADUU/qWnRHS5knycn38i69ALkRWnPHdnQ1ABaACLcBGAs/s400/ctf20.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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The match is called. Yamazaki pumps his fists to indicate willingness to continue. But the referee, doctor, and Maeda want none of it, and a UWF ringboy has to hold Yamazaki back. <br />
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-sXVVz5Q9-VQ/WX-SokyjT7I/AAAAAAAADUY/NzDvfuH-f3gy4rPTP4Flzp_PX6_qfAvOwCLcBGAs/s1600/ctf21.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="438" data-original-width="556" height="315" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-sXVVz5Q9-VQ/WX-SokyjT7I/AAAAAAAADUY/NzDvfuH-f3gy4rPTP4Flzp_PX6_qfAvOwCLcBGAs/s400/ctf21.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Eventually Maeda grabs a mic and makes a short oration and I think indicates a willingness to do this all over again. The crowd clap and Yamazaki bows to Maeda and the crowd and it feels like a classic no-fault no-contest. But the last laugh, as ever, goes to Maeda: <br />
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ZkY03jN-YqA/WX-So7oORfI/AAAAAAAADUc/AhMwkjqQW6UAWe1NzBmuyBBPY3qZbq-2wCLcBGAs/s1600/ctf22.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="442" data-original-width="614" height="287" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ZkY03jN-YqA/WX-So7oORfI/AAAAAAAADUc/AhMwkjqQW6UAWe1NzBmuyBBPY3qZbq-2wCLcBGAs/s400/ctf22.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Winner by doctor stoppage. You bastard! An interesting short show all the same.<br />
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<b>NEXT TIME</b>: Funaki debuts, as do two more!</div>
<script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>D. Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14629124673589292567noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6812605115270563531.post-4963057706969792572017-07-24T13:37:00.000-07:002017-09-25T06:53:56.000-07:00UWF 27/02/1989 - FIGHTING BASE TOKUSHIMA (08/31)<b>UWF Fighting Base Tokushima</b><br />
City Gymnasium, Tokushima<br />
27th February 1989<br />
att. 4200<br />
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The eighth event of the travelling ode-to-grappling excellence known as UWF visits Shikoku, the smallest of the four major islands of Japan, zealously completing its first national circuit of missionary shoot-style goodness. Though if you have seen <i>Silence </i>(2016) (for many weeks this was written as <i>Sacrifice </i>in a potent example of the way things sometimes get switched in my head, apologies), Martin Scorsese's tale of what happens when a strange new ideology attempts to penetrate the core culture of the Japanese people, you will know what lies in store by the end of this blog.</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8Xi6v2UzGV4/WXXtDO43a8I/AAAAAAAADPI/vZ9k5V0msBIpU-05u4xc-aiaNdwSQSOnACLcBGAs/s1600/silence01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="310" data-original-width="620" height="200" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8Xi6v2UzGV4/WXXtDO43a8I/AAAAAAAADPI/vZ9k5V0msBIpU-05u4xc-aiaNdwSQSOnACLcBGAs/s400/silence01.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">please, Maeda-san, consider a push for Yamazaki</td></tr>
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On the horizon for UWF are a few significant changes. In a way this show represents the end of the initial 'shoot-style six' period of the UWF Newborn Era (itself part of the shoot-style eon under the PRO-WRESTLING supereon which as we know is infinite). What follows it will soon become clear.<br />
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<a name='more'></a>We open with a lightly jazzy soundtrack and a montage of Kazuo Yamazaki training that is consistent with the solid levels of visual flair exhibited thus far:<br />
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After spending thirty seconds or so with Yamazaki the montage melts into Nobuhiko Takada, clad in a supreme UWF-branded sweatshirt that I will now attempt to procure from eBay somehow, sparring with Shigeo Miyato.<br />
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And, just in case you're wondering why these two and what the hell this could all possibly mean, Maeda gives it to you wrapped in a delicate bow of a lovely graphic.<br />
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7C-CVcK-MXA/WXYzLwSX5WI/AAAAAAAADPo/TroaPhSidIooaxIHzH31nKeYeWtCJ-q5QCLcBGAs/s1600/fbt03.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="428" data-original-width="626" height="272" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7C-CVcK-MXA/WXYzLwSX5WI/AAAAAAAADPo/TroaPhSidIooaxIHzH31nKeYeWtCJ-q5QCLcBGAs/s400/fbt03.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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These early graphics take the place of the customary parade (sigh) as the telecast cuts straight to the first contest. Another instant <b>Shigeo Miyato</b> post-draw rematch occurs, this time of course with <b>Yoji Anjo</b>, representing the third meeting between the two (Miyato won the first at Hakata back in September). <br />
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For the first ten minutes or so this feels like the coming-out party of Yoji Anjo after his initial spell in the doldrums was recently supplanted by the seeds of a minor push. He's in there throwing these great kicks and stiff knees that he sort of dances between to wind up the knee and the crowd are just enjoying the hell out of it because Anjo is one of those physical artists whose purest joy is expressed in the fullest flourishing of their craft, like a George Best, a Merlene Ottey, a Hakuho, a Marshawn Lynch, or a Ronda Rousey.<br />
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-KsKZrvtsGNA/WXY-3BPyQLI/AAAAAAAADP8/t1wuOCszYPck4G6rj5lCLoR5vX4U4fNuQCLcBGAs/s1600/fbt05.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="402" data-original-width="607" height="263" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-KsKZrvtsGNA/WXY-3BPyQLI/AAAAAAAADP8/t1wuOCszYPck4G6rj5lCLoR5vX4U4fNuQCLcBGAs/s400/fbt05.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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But a lot of the middle and early second half of the match is Shigeo Miyato throwing cold water on Anjo's pep. Miyato ties Anjo up on the ground a lot in static positions and the crowd become completely silent to the point where you can hear individual coughs fourteen rows back. This is because Miyato is one of those sports people who works entirely in a bubble and whose purest joy comes not from the acclaim of the crowd because of their style and more from internal resources, like a Bobby Fischer, a Chris Froome, a Graeme Dott, a Floyd Mayweather, or a Billie Jean King.<br />
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Anjo does come roaring back at the end to lift the crowd ahead of his win, which he attains by sinking in a waki-gatame only for Miyato to flip onto his back. Anjo doesn't let go and Miyato taps from this new predicament, rendering their personal series at 1 win apiece, with a draw. Tense!<br />
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-vkofzpbcMPE/WXY-YLfMhkI/AAAAAAAADP4/WVIL6qbe8bEf3GL9gZkTqWPSllKvZhVLwCLcBGAs/s1600/fbt04.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="378" data-original-width="546" height="276" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-vkofzpbcMPE/WXY-YLfMhkI/AAAAAAAADP4/WVIL6qbe8bEf3GL9gZkTqWPSllKvZhVLwCLcBGAs/s400/fbt04.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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The fortunes of one <b>Tatsuo Nakano</b> lifted for the first time on the previous show, having bested Mark Rush aka Macduff Roesch (neither name is in the Cagematch database, this mystery is like an onion) in probably the worst UWF non-shootboxing bout to date. But his match-up against <b>Norman Smiley</b> does not bode well for his prospects of winning, with Smiley seemingly positioned directly beneath the Big Three of UWF (Maeda, Takada, Yamazaki) but above all others.<br />
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Nakano sheds the trunks that made him look portly and debuts what my friends and I would call the 'middleweight tights' back in the days of the rigorous hierarchy of post-Attitude Era WWE (compare: heavyweight trunks, big man odd kit). Smiley opts for black trunks (he is a heavyweight, this is fine) with black kickpads over red Asics Tigers...which I like!<br />
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Unfortunately that is the sum total of enjoyment as this match is reasonably poor. They don't click and toward the end Smiley is giving himself in a nakedly pro-wrestling style to Nakano so he can get some shit in. It's all terribly professional and it doesn't fall apart at any point. But all nineteen minutes of the match are terminally dull and the crowd's silence feels on the edge of hostility.<br />
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-imnsnDmgosw/WXZEParT8_I/AAAAAAAADQI/7K96KMb_P9kNUpPQ_nEeIVUEB4sSdxW0ACLcBGAs/s1600/tbf07.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="309" data-original-width="599" height="206" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-imnsnDmgosw/WXZEParT8_I/AAAAAAAADQI/7K96KMb_P9kNUpPQ_nEeIVUEB4sSdxW0ACLcBGAs/s400/tbf07.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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There's no real story and the net result is two guys having a match in a bubble, but not really sure about what they're trying to achieve. The ending (Smiley rolls forward whilst being choked and catches Nakano in the most drama-free triangle you'll see outside of a casual wrestling seminar) has an air of 'let's get out of here' and the response from the crowd is a smattering of golf applause. Both men can do better.<br />
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-hQq5qLhFlDQ/WXZEh4m2TZI/AAAAAAAADQM/eQMPZZDWILAByydhOFANh-T9fudFoz_tgCLcBGAs/s1600/fbt06.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="411" data-original-width="510" height="321" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-hQq5qLhFlDQ/WXZEh4m2TZI/AAAAAAAADQM/eQMPZZDWILAByydhOFANh-T9fudFoz_tgCLcBGAs/s400/fbt06.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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The third match features the winless kenpo practitioner and shameless mullet enthusiast <b>Bart Vale</b>. Here's a peek at Vale at the day job:<br />
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Bart Vale is going to attempt to register his first win against a Mr...what does it say here...<b>Akira Maeda</b>. Ah. Sorry Bart. (read that last sentence in the voice of Milhouse).</div>
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If we recall from the previous card, Maeda summarily ended Takada's short reign as the top guy (remember: there is no championship, rather a collective understanding of who the best person is, kind of like being the hardest person at school (widely acknowledged and understood to have been Scott Gallagher, he was not the biggest but he was fearless and insane and, fortunately for the person understood to be the hardest kid at school, was not a bully but a reasonably chilled guy who just knew how to handle himself)). But given Vale's standing in the W/L column (0-2) and the marquee status of the headline bout, this is a rare piece of magnanimity from Big Boss Maeda.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ObmEJNihCqc/WXZGIjG2yYI/AAAAAAAADQY/SqvCb6Yv5k41mb8UiNbXrh1foVmQSCF3gCLcBGAs/s1600/tbf08.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="437" data-original-width="636" height="273" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ObmEJNihCqc/WXZGIjG2yYI/AAAAAAAADQY/SqvCb6Yv5k41mb8UiNbXrh1foVmQSCF3gCLcBGAs/s400/tbf08.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"next on the balance beam...BART VALE (USA)"</td></tr>
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And while the result was never in any doubt (Maeda wins by cross kneelock) my anticipation of quality was also not particularly high after reading that <a href="http://kandd.shootangle.com/uwf89.html">K&D gave this match *1/4 stars</a> after rating the previous match, which I did not like, *3/4. Lummee.</div>
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In truth it is not that bad and indeed is better than Nakano-Smiley. If such a thing can be said to exist, this is the house show/Main Event version of a UWF major player vs. foreign odd-stylist match. The foreign odd-stylist displays their odd style in a non-intense but visual way. The major player initially struggles before working out the method by which they will win whilst also getting signature shit in (Capture Suplex). Vale has a trick up his sleeve late in the day that perhaps Maeda did not see coming (he manages a nifty hip-throw from a rear naked choke) but it is insufficient and too late to prevent the defeat. And at least in this match the crowd seemed to actually enjoy it in its relative brevity rather than letting it die out there for longer.</div>
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-P_0iAFW_9DE/WXZJr6KtpbI/AAAAAAAADQg/9KNb28b3BGgev-HZPHN2ydRMHGXIz_QfgCLcBGAs/s1600/FBT09.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="449" data-original-width="546" height="328" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-P_0iAFW_9DE/WXZJr6KtpbI/AAAAAAAADQg/9KNb28b3BGgev-HZPHN2ydRMHGXIz_QfgCLcBGAs/s400/FBT09.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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So far, so-so. But as the opening credits have indicated, the evening's main event is a particularly mouthwatering proposition; featuring as it does a rematch of one of the best bouts of Newborn UWF's short history as recently-deposed top guy <b>Nobuhiko Takada</b> attempts to even the score against <b>Kazuo Yamazaki</b>. Yamazaki defeated Takada at The Professional Bout over six months prior - but it is Takada who has leaped forward to take the spot as top dog while Yamazaki has floundered under the crushing yoke of the Maeda regime.</div>
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There are pre-match interviews. Yamazaki is fighting the losing battle of the hairline, whilst Takada retains his boyish handsomeness:</div>
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-RKt2Y9SuwHM/WXZNfhQzrjI/AAAAAAAADQo/o3ps1G2bzpsPCh6zIoYJ87nGL_ud--q7gCLcBGAs/s1600/fbt10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="454" data-original-width="600" height="302" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-RKt2Y9SuwHM/WXZNfhQzrjI/AAAAAAAADQo/o3ps1G2bzpsPCh6zIoYJ87nGL_ud--q7gCLcBGAs/s400/fbt10.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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There are also full ring entrances for the first time since I cannot recall. Yamazaki's theme is the generic UWF theme whilst Takada's is all gothic chords and tense seconds (the interval not the measure of time) before a sprightly arpeggio bursts in to herald the moment of arrival. Immediately everything seems to snap out of stagnant house show mode and become something much <i>more</i>.<br />
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It's just that Takada and Yamazaki seem to have, Maeda aside, bigger personalities to go with their more credible-seeming styles. Yamazaki has lovely high kicks and feints like a real fighter, but he carries a thoughtful mien that allows the audience to interpret and theorise him as a thinker. By contrast, Takada is more pugnacious, boisterous, and his kicks are rugged and he punches through the centre line in a hopeful manner. But his air and aura are the natural sportsman, the kid who just got ahead of you in life but also you sort of liked him for his easy-going manner. </div>
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Their bout rescues the card well, splitting the difference between taut and attractive grappling (that pays attention to details rather than doing rote transitions), suplexes that are sometimes executed and sometimes not but always fought against, and strikes that are way above anything that anyone else has thrown tonight with the possible exception of Yoji Anjo</div>
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-zAXO1GXWQR0/WXZTr-z7JgI/AAAAAAAADQ4/pUcnzCmefQI9wQxQlVgc-vf8ABIOEOvpQCLcBGAs/s1600/fbt13.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="447" data-original-width="598" height="298" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-zAXO1GXWQR0/WXZTr-z7JgI/AAAAAAAADQ4/pUcnzCmefQI9wQxQlVgc-vf8ABIOEOvpQCLcBGAs/s400/fbt13.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Knockdowns are exchanged near the end but the rope break/knockdown graphic is not overused - which is great because previously it only came into play if it was going to come into play. Also I have neglected to mention that on two or three of the recent shows since pinfalls had allegedly been eradicated, pinfall attempts had been made. Whilst I must repeat that this is an emerging style, it is not a wildly consistent one.</div>
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Nonetheless this is a really good match - not as good as the previous one between the pair, alas, because that one was electric - but another very good outing by Takada. There is also this excellent section worthy less of remark and more a reasonable accurate visual capture (though I consider learning how to make .gifs too deep a thing to get into at my age):</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-A63q0G9dYIg/WXZVuABGTGI/AAAAAAAADRI/ox9xt-vx9G0aLynSBPnHtQyi9hWQfs9MwCLcBGAs/s1600/fbt15.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="390" data-original-width="552" height="282" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-A63q0G9dYIg/WXZVuABGTGI/AAAAAAAADRI/ox9xt-vx9G0aLynSBPnHtQyi9hWQfs9MwCLcBGAs/s400/fbt15.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">KICK IS CAUGHT...</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-EEIji7gut1Q/WXZVuLgT6GI/AAAAAAAADRQ/kS7QqQxA1LMFkL8U-6TcacyWU0F70KJrACLcBGAs/s1600/fbt16.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="406" data-original-width="574" height="281" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-EEIji7gut1Q/WXZVuLgT6GI/AAAAAAAADRQ/kS7QqQxA1LMFkL8U-6TcacyWU0F70KJrACLcBGAs/s400/fbt16.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">...ANKLE HOLD...</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-RDQie8OF3tc/WXZVuG4868I/AAAAAAAADRM/qrbfqV_bSLA-6mOxtljHC3M6amxSur61wCLcBGAs/s1600/fbt17.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="393" data-original-width="561" height="280" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-RDQie8OF3tc/WXZVuG4868I/AAAAAAAADRM/qrbfqV_bSLA-6mOxtljHC3M6amxSur61wCLcBGAs/s400/fbt17.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">...HANG ON...</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-lFJlTy2Fhg8/WXZVuur1L7I/AAAAAAAADRU/7KwJuBNVY_wCr5blqS-jGa7vXJvSe578gCLcBGAs/s1600/fbt18.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="387" data-original-width="588" height="262" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-lFJlTy2Fhg8/WXZVuur1L7I/AAAAAAAADRU/7KwJuBNVY_wCr5blqS-jGa7vXJvSe578gCLcBGAs/s400/fbt18.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">...TA DAA!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Takada wins with a painful looking lower leg submission that I can't identify but it seems to focus on the Achilles. Yamazaki is graceful in defeat but is cast back down into that hinterland that he occupies; above the foreigners and the young lads, but very much beneath Maeda and Takada.</div>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HV7zUhyKvYM/WXZV8FVQbbI/AAAAAAAADRY/CQBm88OM_YYlM-hijkdmJVE5sEh2Z-gwACEwYBhgL/s1600/fbt19.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="435" data-original-width="563" height="308" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HV7zUhyKvYM/WXZV8FVQbbI/AAAAAAAADRY/CQBm88OM_YYlM-hijkdmJVE5sEh2Z-gwACEwYBhgL/s400/fbt19.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
Not the most essential show of the UWF journey so far, though the opener and closer do represent over 40 minutes of fine wrestling. However, the next three shows feature debuts by characters that feature strongly elsewhere in the Long UWF, and as such this show cannot be taken as a decline in the UWF aesthetic, rather a shedding of skin.<br />
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<b>NEXT TIME</b>: <span style="font-weight: normal;">鈴木 みのる</span></div>
</div>
D. Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14629124673589292567noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6812605115270563531.post-15585872912783807032017-07-16T12:50:00.000-07:002017-07-25T00:12:10.417-07:00UWF 10/01/1989 - DYNAMISM (07/31)<div style="text-align: left;">
<b>UWF Dynamism</b></div>
Budokan, Tokyo<br />
10th January 1989<br />
att. 14130<br />
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<i>NINETEEN EIGHTY-NINE!</i><br />
<i>The number! Another summer (get down)</i><br />
<i>Sound of the funky drummer</i><br />
<i>Maeda hittin' your heart cause I know you no sold!</i><br />
(<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8PaoLy7PHwk">link</a>)<br />
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To the sound of TA-KA-DA! TA-KA-DA! we emerge into one of the sickest opening montages ever attempted by a pro-wrestling company:</div>
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ZNDdEYzVTTU/WWtQSLRglmI/AAAAAAAADK8/aQHEj4zkIkwks5Cf45R88VHaZ7V2J1_wwCLcBGAs/s1600/dynamism01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="461" data-original-width="591" height="311" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ZNDdEYzVTTU/WWtQSLRglmI/AAAAAAAADK8/aQHEj4zkIkwks5Cf45R88VHaZ7V2J1_wwCLcBGAs/s400/dynamism01.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/--t1P5COKfgQ/WWtQSCNDfeI/AAAAAAAADLA/dRL_1GQR2zERd6Gem1qhSK2detjhTHF8wCLcBGAs/s1600/dynamism02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="360" data-original-width="672" height="213" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/--t1P5COKfgQ/WWtQSCNDfeI/AAAAAAAADLA/dRL_1GQR2zERd6Gem1qhSK2detjhTHF8wCLcBGAs/s400/dynamism02.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a name='more'></a><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-NHR0FDwMOO8/WWtROM6C4RI/AAAAAAAADLE/Ft5rpy_h0xISb8YKXjjWRVBzrMjmetbfQCLcBGAs/s1600/dynamism03.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="424" data-original-width="589" height="286" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-NHR0FDwMOO8/WWtROM6C4RI/AAAAAAAADLE/Ft5rpy_h0xISb8YKXjjWRVBzrMjmetbfQCLcBGAs/s400/dynamism03.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">BUDOKAN BABY!!!!!!!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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How can I express what I feel for UWF after the first six events? <br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/f__n8084YAE" width="560"></iframe></div>
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Apologies for communicating mostly in pictures thus far but the parade is clipped and we just see Maeda's opening oration with an old friend loitering in the background:</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-eN3UmS0BWOc/WWtSHDhY_VI/AAAAAAAADLM/UZDdr5eqDesCZj8jmn28UU0yDf2--tlIACLcBGAs/s1600/dynamism04.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="417" data-original-width="598" height="278" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-eN3UmS0BWOc/WWtSHDhY_VI/AAAAAAAADLM/UZDdr5eqDesCZj8jmn28UU0yDf2--tlIACLcBGAs/s400/dynamism04.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">looking trim, Akira babe</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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And then straight into the first match we go in a bout of the battling babyfaces of the lower card: <b>Yoji Anjo</b> against <b>Shigeo Miyato</b>. They met at Fighting Network Hakata, with Miyato winning by a decisive knockout.</div>
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There's a cool bit in the middle where Anjo has Miyato in a cravat/chancery/three-quarter side-facelock and keeps kneeing Miyato in the head in a really amusing shithead way. When Miyato gets out of it with his normally Fire Pro sprite-perfect hair mussed up, he looks quite a bit like And You Will Know Us By The Trail of Dead frontman <a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1AJ93Pe-hns/VqGfqglF5zI/AAAAAAAAB8s/2NEiEBb1OiM/s1600/album%2Bcover.jpg">Conrad Keely</a>. Anjo then goes to <i>ogoshi</i> Trail of Miyato but he fights it and they collapse to the floor <i>because remember people this is real you do not always just *let* yourself be ippon for it is not just symbolic death but ACTUAL.</i></div>
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wjV0SznWKss/WWtaBvzOI6I/AAAAAAAADLo/sDysnD3uaCoFJoWRMeYnvu6n_vjvOLjbACLcBGAs/s1600/dynamism05.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="384" data-original-width="594" height="257" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wjV0SznWKss/WWtaBvzOI6I/AAAAAAAADLo/sDysnD3uaCoFJoWRMeYnvu6n_vjvOLjbACLcBGAs/s400/dynamism05.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Midway through they recall the finish of their initial bout as Miyato fiercely kicks Anjo in the mid-section for a close near-KO only for Anjo to get up and walk onto another huge kick. This time he settles back into the fight rather than re-acquaints himself with the grey-blue of the canvas and the fight grinds on.</div>
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The match ends in a time-limit draw that stays above reasonably-entertaining throughout. They're still working hard at the end with no clear potential winner established should the match have gone on indefinitely. Rough and stiff strikes break out routinely. Anjo hits a gorgeous suplex and floats over for a tense kimura. Miyato's kicks have turned into tracer bullets over the course of the last six months. Maybe it is Tatsuo Nakano who is the weak link in these now-expected long openers: </div>
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-pA0gsZ_mqnI/WWtijVIg9-I/AAAAAAAADL4/9nfIy4q_e38BNpBbwFKvGlgSlXUwMu2YQCLcBGAs/s1600/dynamism06.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="377" data-original-width="611" height="246" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-pA0gsZ_mqnI/WWtijVIg9-I/AAAAAAAADL4/9nfIy4q_e38BNpBbwFKvGlgSlXUwMu2YQCLcBGAs/s400/dynamism06.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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On the same night, elsewhere in Japan, New Japan Pro Wrestling were running a TV taping in Chiba with a top two matches of Tatsumi Fujinami-Crusher Bam Bam Bigelow and Riki Choshu-Big Van Vader with Antonio Inoki and Yoshiaki Fujiwara down-card. All Japan were in Ichinoseki, in the rural north, with a house show that nonetheless featured Genichiro Tenryu, Toshiaki Kawada, Misawa as Tiger Mask, Giant Baba, The British Bulldogs, Leo Burke, The Malenko Brothers, ex-sumo John Tenta, and Kenta Kobashi. Heady days.</div>
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But on this night UWF were running <b>Bart Vale</b> vs. <b>Norman Smiley</b> as a special singles match (the first UWF bout between two foreigners!) and 14130 people were putting down their hard-earned yen for it. Which reminds me: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kd1EvbY4DXM">I watched this terrible video of some absolute dorkwad trying to put paid to Bart Vale's hardman reputation</a>.</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-3D-NYBbZQ5c/WWttTw0nKEI/AAAAAAAADMQ/VR_8WnSHPkwdqRCxOOeWAEqNiqMVjN_VwCLcBGAs/s1600/dynamism07.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="426" data-original-width="586" height="290" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-3D-NYBbZQ5c/WWttTw0nKEI/AAAAAAAADMQ/VR_8WnSHPkwdqRCxOOeWAEqNiqMVjN_VwCLcBGAs/s400/dynamism07.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"why yes, Bart, your trousers ARE freaking rad."</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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The two Floridians set a lively pace early on, with Vale hooping florid kicks that Smiley grabs and converts into ground submissions. At one point Vale gets knocked to his back and does a kip-up and immediately starts kicking again. As no-sells go, it was one of the best!</div>
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But as things wear on the match loses steam. Vale's kicks look whiffy and Smiley can't pull things back on track except to sink in one of a thousand variations on static ground submissions that Vale never really sells or appears to struggle in or transition from. Dramatic subtlety takes a match off. </div>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-BAEyeboBfM4/WWtvml7cTYI/AAAAAAAADMc/DU_XoQ38ieofTSKE-iiZi4UwRggbrQwVACLcBGAs/s1600/dynamism08.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="465" data-original-width="403" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-BAEyeboBfM4/WWtvml7cTYI/AAAAAAAADMc/DU_XoQ38ieofTSKE-iiZi4UwRggbrQwVACLcBGAs/s400/dynamism08.jpg" width="346" /></a></div>
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To say Vale peppers Smiley with kicks in the closing minutes would be a disgrace to the understated power of pepper: Smiley takes more licks from the air these kicks displace than the kicks themselves. The ending comes when Vale chases Smiley in some groundwork with a loose arm which Smiley rolls into a cross-armbar/juji-gatame for a quick tap after 16 minutes or so.</div>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rKuF2r_8APE/WWtzJWZNykI/AAAAAAAADMk/ZJoA-0tsQWMZusm5aVqFp1_FzA3n--nowCLcBGAs/s1600/dynamism09.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="426" data-original-width="616" height="276" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rKuF2r_8APE/WWtzJWZNykI/AAAAAAAADMk/ZJoA-0tsQWMZusm5aVqFp1_FzA3n--nowCLcBGAs/s400/dynamism09.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Vaulting all the way up to the third match spot is <b>Tatsuo Nakano</b> as he takes on <b>Mark Rush</b>. Or does he? I have seen 'Mark Rush' written down on a number of other websites (such as Wrestling Data, Quebrada, and Pro Wrestling History) as 'MacDuff Roesch'. Is this his real name? Is this an approximation of someone writing down a Japanese pronunciation of Mark Rush? If you have any insight or are indeed are Rush/Roesch, please get in touch.<br />
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Whatever his name is, he looks significantly less like Will Oldham:</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-5hy09OKMTjA/WWt08fxEeaI/AAAAAAAADMo/KqNyxRaUmowJivZi1BnJF2qxZur3cdjIACLcBGAs/s1600/dynamism10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="423" data-original-width="611" height="276" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-5hy09OKMTjA/WWt08fxEeaI/AAAAAAAADMo/KqNyxRaUmowJivZi1BnJF2qxZur3cdjIACLcBGAs/s400/dynamism10.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">CW Anderson?</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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This match also isn't good. At all. I don't think they click and there's only so many 'collapse to the mat for tentative groundwork' spots a person can really handle before you have to stop making allowances for the newness of the style and the communication differences. Nakano wins with a back suplex, a bunch of kicks, a terrible takedown, and a tight half-crab. The crowd love it. Nakano bellows in celebraton of his first significant victory in aeons.</div>
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-XyWD8wPFdG8/WWt8NWgIiMI/AAAAAAAADM4/SYHiodu2d-wG0aTdusdUB1LmlG6WwlKPgCLcBGAs/s1600/dynamism11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="411" data-original-width="538" height="305" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-XyWD8wPFdG8/WWt8NWgIiMI/AAAAAAAADM4/SYHiodu2d-wG0aTdusdUB1LmlG6WwlKPgCLcBGAs/s400/dynamism11.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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A light show soundtracked by spiffy synthwave occurs with inset images of the final two bouts. It's nice to look at but perhaps UWF's biggest show to date is...run of the mill? Not very good? Let us check in with the book that appears to chart Akira Maeda's excursion to the UK in 1982.<br />
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______<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>Hemel Hempstead<br />13th February 1982</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>Steve was almost no use. He had studied Japanese "from the films" and done a few classes at night school. He knew how to say "hello, I am Steve, I will be your translator" and a couple of amusing curses. But backstage, among wrestlers, and for some reason the town mayor in his chains and red foxcoat, Steve knew nothing. He did not even watch or enjoy wrestling.</i><br />
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<i>Lucky Gordon introduced himself to Maeda as Steve stood limply by. Lucky smoked a cigarette and had a loosely-wrapped towel around abdomen that revealed his genitals as he sat on the bench next to Maeda. Maeda made a disapproving face that Gordon did not recognise as such, sidling in. "Ok young man this is what we will do. First round you kick my bollocks. Second round we'll do my running forearm, I get a fall. Third round I'll just call it. Fourth round you can make me submit. End it in the fifth with a kick or a splash. None of that fucking diving about. Watch my teeth okay lad." Lucky looked up at Steve. "You get all that kidder?"</i><br />
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<i>Steve attempted to translate as Gordon walked away, but Maeda put his hand up. </i>Yes I know how to beat up an unfit man.<i> Steve spluttered at Maeda's hand. "You mean you got all that?" </i></blockquote>
_____ </div>
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In the next scene we meet a new friend:</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-5f7Yp52Mx4k/WWt-EG-2CRI/AAAAAAAADM8/VPRQlAHC-Jk1-5oafutnSmhh5_VpNANPQCLcBGAs/s1600/dynamism12.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="434" data-original-width="450" height="385" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-5f7Yp52Mx4k/WWt-EG-2CRI/AAAAAAAADM8/VPRQlAHC-Jk1-5oafutnSmhh5_VpNANPQCLcBGAs/s400/dynamism12.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">TREVOR "POWER" CLARKE</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Allow us to capture <b>Trevor Clarke</b>'s words for posterity:</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i>Erm. I'm a British champion. And hopefully I'm going to go for the world title in kickboxing. I've seen him work out and I think his techniques are good. But my techniques are superior. And I believe that I'm going to win tonight. I'll carry it. I'll carry the fight up to the sixth or seventh round then I'll give him a body shot, a hook, and a left knockout. And I think that should do him. That should put him out.</i></div>
</blockquote>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Excellent work! I'm already interested. 'Him' in this case is <b>Kazuo Yamazaki</b>, who does indeed have good kicks for a shoot-style wrestler. But are they good enough for a British champion kickboxer? I went to school with the brother of a British champion kickboxer. His retort any time you crossed him? "I'll get my brother to come down." That usually worked.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Yamazaki's brief promo is unintelligible to me but is done in this tone of voice that is unmistakable. He says, I guess, "this could be difficult, I don't know a lot about him and he seems fairly tough."</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The first round is intriguing. Clarke throws hard kicks that much more convincing than Vale's powderpuff efforts. He also works with a much smarter sense of ringcraft, particularly in guesstimating how much chance he has of getting caught by Yamazaki and in doing do smartly ensures that he is always within sight of the ropes to prevent Yamazaki turning defence into attack. Which leads Clarke to get cocky:</div>
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-cjWsSqd_JyI/WWuKYpayD8I/AAAAAAAADNM/IHsuyt_HcLs5hBHS1Ax0OOeeueJIrpcqACLcBGAs/s1600/dynamism13.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="387" data-original-width="587" height="262" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-cjWsSqd_JyI/WWuKYpayD8I/AAAAAAAADNM/IHsuyt_HcLs5hBHS1Ax0OOeeueJIrpcqACLcBGAs/s400/dynamism13.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Round two commences with Clarke on the offensive, catching Yamazaki flush against the ropes with a flurry of fists and feet for an eight-count. There's much more decisive work throughout the round, either with Yamazaki grounding Clarke in slightly better areas, or Clarke raining blows past Yamazaki's guard.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fa7mhHLfBjM/WWuNk1-x7jI/AAAAAAAADNQ/g54RkZQ0USsg5rLCNG8VSIK1CBN4VoSSwCLcBGAs/s1600/dynamism15.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="456" data-original-width="498" height="366" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fa7mhHLfBjM/WWuNk1-x7jI/AAAAAAAADNQ/g54RkZQ0USsg5rLCNG8VSIK1CBN4VoSSwCLcBGAs/s400/dynamism15.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Round three continues the trend, with Clarke bashing away, until this wild shit occurs in lightning speed:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-bRPDN6HAeU8/WWuONMEpcwI/AAAAAAAADNU/l7bdfYggsnUChHkZl5gtZyCERpPbpdXmACLcBGAs/s1600/dynamism16.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="419" data-original-width="579" height="288" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-bRPDN6HAeU8/WWuONMEpcwI/AAAAAAAADNU/l7bdfYggsnUChHkZl5gtZyCERpPbpdXmACLcBGAs/s400/dynamism16.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Clarke takes the bump about a billion times better than Vale did and the crowd go electric as it seems like Yamazaki might have stunned his man long enough to sink something craven and limb-destroying in, but Clarke comes around to make another smart rope break. Clarke deploys this rope break technique a number of times in the round in a way that appears to kill the vibe until it is revealed to be a pre-planned spot that makes the moment when Yamazaki ties Clarke up mid-ring only to be prevented from winning by the bell a real heart-in-mouth moment.</div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
Round four is testy. Yamazaki is getting annoyed at this rope breaking and just rugby tackles Clarke and carries him across the ring and dumps him in the ropes. A knee submission by Yamazaki sees Clarke sell incredibly for a guy in his first worked match (we think), limping toward Yamazaki to try and resume kicking. Yamazaki does smart stuff like this:<br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-N4aPwWHtB0M/WWuVd5huthI/AAAAAAAADNw/J2HazZXFMqwvyi66NR5Htwf__bMfTt3zwCLcBGAs/s1600/dynamism18.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="365" data-original-width="527" height="276" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-N4aPwWHtB0M/WWuVd5huthI/AAAAAAAADNw/J2HazZXFMqwvyi66NR5Htwf__bMfTt3zwCLcBGAs/s400/dynamism18.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_V-FB6MuyHk/WWuVd_RiOgI/AAAAAAAADNs/Hr10jDpH8SkKc6KLdTmUjw6fY05kwM3iACLcBGAs/s1600/dynamism19.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="393" data-original-width="582" height="270" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_V-FB6MuyHk/WWuVd_RiOgI/AAAAAAAADNs/Hr10jDpH8SkKc6KLdTmUjw6fY05kwM3iACLcBGAs/s400/dynamism19.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
Clarke comes out dancing at the start of round five. After a couple of attempted grapples that Yamazaki gives up on before the rope break even gets to happen, seeing the direction things are heading in, he manages to duck under a wild swing from Clarke. From there he applies the standing front facelock, otherwise known as the 'grovit', which I believe originates in my hometown of Wigan as a staple of early catch wrestling. Having no direction to the ropes, Clarke taps out!</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/YlyAPvPdtvg" width="560"></iframe>
</div>
<br />
<a href="http://www.quebrada.net/videos/UWF2.html">Quebrada</a> raved about this one, stating: <br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>Yamazaki vs. Trevor "Power" Clarke. This is wrestler vs. kickboxers
and it's one of the best mixed matches I've seen. Yamazaki is great and
Clarke really looks like he's fighting for his life everytime Yamazaki
grabs him. Very good.
</i></blockquote>
<a href="http://kandd.shootangle.com/uwf89.html">K & D rated it at ***3/4</a>. It has fans. On balance I'd say I preferred Maeda vs. Gordeau. But what this does indicate is that Kazuo Yamazaki could probably carry a big bucket of paint with a smiley face drawn on it and twigs for arms to a solid match. Clarke did his bit well too. Good stuff!<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-lq5YKC1k-5A/WWuTgbQ9ZUI/AAAAAAAADNk/7EOuU91KnaoF0XXGalaYIoD5tDWd0SsQgCLcBGAs/s1600/dynamism17.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="405" data-original-width="558" height="288" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-lq5YKC1k-5A/WWuTgbQ9ZUI/AAAAAAAADNk/7EOuU91KnaoF0XXGalaYIoD5tDWd0SsQgCLcBGAs/s400/dynamism17.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">IT'S ME, IT'S ME, IT'S YA-MA-ZAKI</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
Tonight's main event is the match ranked at #1 in the official UWF Best Matches compilation video that would surface at the end of 1989. Nothing like a bit of pre-hype but if you cannot pre-hype the match where <b>Nobuhiko Takada</b> defends his notional crown of being Akira Maeda against the actual <b>Akira Maeda</b> then you may as well all go home and admit that communism has won.</div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
This is their third bout of this edition of UWF which to me, admittedly watching all the events in a short space of time, seems a little like overkill. But what do I know as the fans are split in their chants: each MA-E-DA gets a sharper TA-KA-DA in reply and we have ourselves here something approximating a 'big fight'.</div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-hYgXc0Bf3XM/WWu-yvNGgRI/AAAAAAAADOI/n27yA44ikpANowkfk1t-6zpqF07MwnbvACLcBGAs/s1600/dynamism22.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="387" data-original-width="520" height="297" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-hYgXc0Bf3XM/WWu-yvNGgRI/AAAAAAAADOI/n27yA44ikpANowkfk1t-6zpqF07MwnbvACLcBGAs/s400/dynamism22.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Aside from being the biggest stars it is evident that Takada and Maeda just carry themselves like big boys and also know what to do in there to keep it interesting. After the first third of the match finishes feeling itself out, they work the match from spot to spot seamlessly but also remembering to make it look like a tense big match. A lot of the essence of the spots are the same as nearly every UWF match: the strike, the suplex, the grappling. But there's novelties everywhere, such as Takada utterly self-owning on an attempted <i>ippon seionage</i> and getting choked half to death, or Maeda failing to hit <i>ogoshi</i> as Takada fights him off twice before hitting a super back suplex of his own. </div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-bfZSFSG7rtY/WWu-zAKk39I/AAAAAAAADOM/1x4tHqvSlfU_oHD4VUBcLTFnb1EPkft_QCLcBGAs/s1600/dynamism21.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="414" data-original-width="589" height="280" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-bfZSFSG7rtY/WWu-zAKk39I/AAAAAAAADOM/1x4tHqvSlfU_oHD4VUBcLTFnb1EPkft_QCLcBGAs/s400/dynamism21.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">WE HAVE CONTACT</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The structure of the match is similar to previous bouts as Maeda largely dominates and Takada fights back. They even recall the ending of the last match as Takada throws kicks and bombs in desperation to end the contest. This time, Maeda is not finished by the assault and the match heads in a new direction. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-pAZDuPGS9uM/WWu-zQAwzgI/AAAAAAAADOQ/vs04OvApYxYQifSfQH3q8R2tOefSZiKagCLcBGAs/s1600/dynamism20.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="417" data-original-width="608" height="273" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-pAZDuPGS9uM/WWu-zQAwzgI/AAAAAAAADOQ/vs04OvApYxYQifSfQH3q8R2tOefSZiKagCLcBGAs/s400/dynamism20.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
As the image suggests, the direction that the match scuttles in is a Maeda win by a taut full crab that causes Takada to tap centre-ring. Maeda climbs back to the top of the ladder after spending an entire month on the penultimate rung.</div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Quality-wise this is probably between the two bouts Takada and Maeda have had, which still puts it in the very good category. If someone was to ask "what are the best five UWF bouts thus far?" I'd have to say that Takada's last two against Maeda, plus contests with Yamazaki and Backlund would be the top four in some order or other, with Yamazaki vs. Maeda rounding out the top five. And also to say that Takada's bout with Smiley is Smiley's best contest too. What I'm trying to say is that this Takada kid is pretty damn special and I hope Maeda doesn't continue to beat him like a rented mule and create some kind of schism or something.</div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-yk7rXNTx_x8/WWu-0AQiT_I/AAAAAAAADOU/d1evK9jBm28C1fMwwwNKXmTuuk0t-fpYgCLcBGAs/s1600/dynamism23.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="453" data-original-width="615" height="293" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-yk7rXNTx_x8/WWu-0AQiT_I/AAAAAAAADOU/d1evK9jBm28C1fMwwwNKXmTuuk0t-fpYgCLcBGAs/s400/dynamism23.jpg" width="400" /> </a></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Are you even listening to a word I say Akira? Akira? AKIIIIIIIIRA?</div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<b>NEXT TIME</b>: Maeda cedes the main event...but to who?</div>
D. Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14629124673589292567noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6812605115270563531.post-5346246999756770032017-07-14T08:38:00.000-07:002017-07-25T00:18:26.546-07:00UWF 22/12/1988 - HEARTBEAT (06/31)<b>UWF Heartbeat</b><br />
22nd December 1988<br />
Prefectural Gymnasium, Osaka<br />
att. 7000<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
A-ho-ho-ho and MERRRRRRRY CHRISTMAS from the St. Nicholas of Japan Akira Maeda! You'd better not laugh, you'd better not cry, you'd better not pout - I'm tellin' you why: because Akira Maeda will put you in a locker backstage after SHOOT kicking you in the head in front of many paying customers.</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-VziaQp_3RAY/WWdE3F6eQWI/AAAAAAAADH4/qMJ78Isk8KwSLHLiCiFIeTagX1M5i5rEgCLcBGAs/s1600/heart02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="432" data-original-width="768" height="225" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-VziaQp_3RAY/WWdE3F6eQWI/AAAAAAAADH4/qMJ78Isk8KwSLHLiCiFIeTagX1M5i5rEgCLcBGAs/s400/heart02.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">not taken from this event, but what a t-shirt!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
The opening montage soundtracked by a gorgeous drumbreak features none of our sainted promotion head, some of Nobuhiko Takada, but quite a lot of former (and future) WWF Champion ROBERT LOUIS "BOB" BACKLUND.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
At this point in time Bob was 39 years old and had been out of wrestling for around three years after his dispute with WWF and a brief period working all the territories opposed to Vince McMahonism (noble).</div>
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<a name='more'></a><div style="text-align: justify;">
Say what you like about Backlund - the way his lengthy title run of the 70s & 80s seemed to have everyone turn against him, his apparent novelty return to WWF in the 90s, his heel turn, his brief business-declining title run, the squash to Kevin Nash that ended that reign, the spin out into ineffectual noveltydom, or his real life slide into a parodic Republicanism that prefigures Glenn "Kane" Jacobs (<i>such learned, so smart</i>) - I always kinda liked the guy. When he 'snapped' on Bret Hart in WWF and cross-face chickenwinged him into unconsciousness was one of my first "noooooooooooo!" moments as a child. His style seemed refined enough that I could look past his less visibly-excellent body. And his promos had that quiet menace and creepiness along the lines of Archie "The Stomper" Gouldie and Jake "The Snake" Roberts that I like:</div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Y9XNSD_eBfA" width="560"></iframe></div>
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At the very outset of the transmission Backlund graces us with some words:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>Well they're a little bit worried because it has been about four years since I wrestled. But they wished me the best of luck and they know I enjoy wrestling. I didn't quit wrestling because I wanted to. I quit wrestling because I was standing up for my principles. </i>(question edited out, presumably about why he chose UWF to make his return)<i> because I enjoy the style so much. I think it's a great style. I think it's what wrestling should be all about. It's science. It's knowledge. It's conditioning. And it's what I want to be involved with. </i></blockquote>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Thank you Bob. THANK YOU. On with the show. There is a parade and it is excellent. Takada gets mobbed.</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-1HqsrQ5CXfA/WWe73erBjxI/AAAAAAAADIM/kbN4w4RaclU3VHZOx8BWYRBN0gAyfzNtgCLcBGAs/s1600/heartbeat03.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="382" data-original-width="530" height="287" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-1HqsrQ5CXfA/WWe73erBjxI/AAAAAAAADIM/kbN4w4RaclU3VHZOx8BWYRBN0gAyfzNtgCLcBGAs/s400/heartbeat03.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I feel empty / I feel dark / I remark / I am mesmerized<br />
By my own beat<br />
Like a heartbeat</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
Tonight's opening contest does not feature Shigeo Miyato but his last two vanquished foes <b>Tatsuo Nakano</b> and the hapless and winless <b>Yoji Anjo</b>. Though now I think about it Nakano has hardly been cracking many pots, opening night draw and a win over an actual teenage boy aside (EDIT: of course, these two have fought before on opening night, with Nakano winning). </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
The match in keywords: niggly, tense, testy, halting, gritty. There's some meat (strikes, suplexes, displays of charisma) on the bones (match) late in the contest but it is not the easiest ride throughout. Whilst there's a lot of flaws in UK/European independent booking approaches, I do believe in something simple and upbeat to get things moving. The hardest part about reviewing these shows is not the writing or the .jpging or the translating Akira Maeda's tour to the UK (more next time) or the researching of other opinions. It is often just getting ready for an opener north of 20 minutes that is made primarily of hushed grapples. Like roughage, it is good for you. And once the shows get going they've all been super so far. But this is one occasion where I'll have to say: not great, though solid nonetheless .</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zcS5ZKZWqf0/WWjj0Pj7bzI/AAAAAAAADJc/GjrNE7z--3w1R3l5d-8Qu6AlZJhv-9FqQCLcBGAs/s1600/heartbeat19.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="369" data-original-width="567" height="260" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zcS5ZKZWqf0/WWjj0Pj7bzI/AAAAAAAADJc/GjrNE7z--3w1R3l5d-8Qu6AlZJhv-9FqQCLcBGAs/s400/heartbeat19.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A representative image</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
The crowd seem far more invested in Yoji Anjo as a battling babyface jerking the curtain than they ever were Shigeo Miyato. I think I am with them too. Based on what we have seen over 5.25 episodes of UWF Newborn it is apparent that Anjo is much less polished but is just far more fun to watch. At the finish, where Anjo finds his way out of a chickenwing attempt and reverses smartly into a fully-extended and picture-perfect wakigatame, the crowd roar wholeheartedly.</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-T_TCXHjP91s/WWiclkL0YMI/AAAAAAAADIs/PBJqEKlVAak0c1yVXp5Gt6hxyL5Fv2F7ACLcBGAs/s1600/heartbeat07.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="360" data-original-width="594" height="241" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-T_TCXHjP91s/WWiclkL0YMI/AAAAAAAADIs/PBJqEKlVAak0c1yVXp5Gt6hxyL5Fv2F7ACLcBGAs/s400/heartbeat07.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">update your manuals</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
Anjo flops around the ring in a mixture of exhaustion and delight. Meanwhile Tatsuo Nakano is left to consider his place at the bottom of the heap:</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vZJt5_cQpoM/WWidA9DIEfI/AAAAAAAADIw/ioWtKmg6AlkfNkrYk1HRXfSCu8YdGO7ogCLcBGAs/s1600/heartbeat08.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="375" data-original-width="594" height="252" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vZJt5_cQpoM/WWidA9DIEfI/AAAAAAAADIw/ioWtKmg6AlkfNkrYk1HRXfSCu8YdGO7ogCLcBGAs/s400/heartbeat08.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">the master of incredulity</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>Miyato</b>'s absence in the opener is due to his sprightly vaulting upcard to meet a <b>Kazuo Yamazaki</b> on his way...sideways?...after besting Bart Vale (we have no frame of reference for his talents) last time out.</div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-lYByDXTVjJg/WWjb11IfcrI/AAAAAAAADJM/3OV7XwwYwaseCBwJkICSQKP_utpGYQGrwCLcBGAs/s1600/heartbeat15.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="453" data-original-width="626" height="288" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-lYByDXTVjJg/WWjb11IfcrI/AAAAAAAADJM/3OV7XwwYwaseCBwJkICSQKP_utpGYQGrwCLcBGAs/s400/heartbeat15.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Miyato, admiring Yamazaki's new trousers</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
After pinging an early kick the match turns into 'how long can Miyato put up with this ass-beating by a much better and slightly bigger fighter?' Which makes for an interesting dynamic as it grinds north of ten minutes and makes Miyato look tougher than if he was just beating Anjo or Nakano again.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Miyato does get some shit in though. My favourite is, on taking a German suplex, Miyato spots Yamazaki's arm has come loose and he grabs it for a lighting fast wakigatame. Sounds like nothing written down and I don't know how to do .gifs but it really is something. Fuck it. Here it is in three .jpgs.</div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Dij9UOlNCyc/WWjehCabEzI/AAAAAAAADJU/-QLXnSyhPvYcKJxhY6LskeayM1buGXRqACLcBGAs/s1600/heartbeat16.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="383" data-original-width="474" height="322" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Dij9UOlNCyc/WWjehCabEzI/AAAAAAAADJU/-QLXnSyhPvYcKJxhY6LskeayM1buGXRqACLcBGAs/s400/heartbeat16.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-V1LFFVk_ofI/WWjehO14ylI/AAAAAAAADJQ/8kQ9lSfdplQpDvwmr8CwgL-5RXnjRD_SQCLcBGAs/s1600/heartbeat17.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="378" data-original-width="447" height="337" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-V1LFFVk_ofI/WWjehO14ylI/AAAAAAAADJQ/8kQ9lSfdplQpDvwmr8CwgL-5RXnjRD_SQCLcBGAs/s400/heartbeat17.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CTkq1SNU0vg/WWjehAnMwvI/AAAAAAAADJY/wXQeIpXrzDwIgmUiC4TT-TOmeuCI_-xTQCLcBGAs/s1600/heartbeat18.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="418" data-original-width="606" height="275" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CTkq1SNU0vg/WWjehAnMwvI/AAAAAAAADJY/wXQeIpXrzDwIgmUiC4TT-TOmeuCI_-xTQCLcBGAs/s400/heartbeat18.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
After some struggle, Yamazaki gets out and hits a vengeful sleeper to end the contest. Miyato stays down long after the finish until he is revived to his feet by the encouragement and approval of his conqueror. Good stuff as usual from Yamazaki.</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8COZHsAIKQc/WWiSdhQSsCI/AAAAAAAADIg/oB8dRerPKrAtub8UucfErGGnVNKQY8vQACLcBGAs/s1600/heartbeat04.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="463" data-original-width="614" height="301" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8COZHsAIKQc/WWiSdhQSsCI/AAAAAAAADIg/oB8dRerPKrAtub8UucfErGGnVNKQY8vQACLcBGAs/s400/heartbeat04.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">barely broken sweat</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Clutch your pearls tightly if you have them because the rumours are true: <b>Akira Maeda</b> is not in the main event. <b>Norman Smiley</b>, firmly established as 'credible foreign midcard guy' and the dictionary definition of a 'good hand', is the man employed to dance with The Archduke of the Violent Rebuke.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Inarguably this Maeda's least significant match thus far but it serves at least the purpose of rebuilding Maeda into a cross between a titan and Hercules. After all Maeda did suffer a very narrow defeat to a man he has beaten six times previously who, in spite of those half-dozen defeats, remains a phenomenally popular and credible drawing card (as the sellout here attests).</div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-EHnHGElfZcE/WWiZAddvUzI/AAAAAAAADIo/TnCHKKgebcsMSuN5s2lKufiCOT5TxBNeACLcBGAs/s1600/heartbeat06.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="393" data-original-width="564" height="277" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-EHnHGElfZcE/WWiZAddvUzI/AAAAAAAADIo/TnCHKKgebcsMSuN5s2lKufiCOT5TxBNeACLcBGAs/s400/heartbeat06.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
UWF has these new rules pertaining to rope breaks and knockdowns. Initially it seems that they never apply them unless they're going to come into play. Both Smiley and Maeda break early and often and none of
them are apparently applied to any kind of running total until, after Smiley's third rope break, we cut to the arena scoreboard <i>that we at home can otherwise not see</i> to reveal that yes these rope breaks and downs are being scored but not revealed to the viewers at home. Shoddy work UWF. Shoddy.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The ending, then. Maeda boots Smiley down for a count. Smiley gets up and is then put back down for another. Smiley gets up. Maeda throws a kick and Smiley catches it, but Maeda twists and wraps Smiley in a nice cross kneelock that ends in a rope break. Maeda boots Smiley down a third time. On returning to his feet, Maeda whips smartly round Smiley's back and hooks in a full sleeper that is taken to the mat where Smiley taps inside 9 minutes. Completely dominant stuff by Maeda. We get it. You are strong. The crowd eat this up.</div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QhY-iSkwuzI/WWiYRoLIobI/AAAAAAAADIk/R1ihsJADIiEh026JFaMRrWDJqF2_yNEXQCLcBGAs/s1600/heartbeat05.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="393" data-original-width="539" height="291" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QhY-iSkwuzI/WWiYRoLIobI/AAAAAAAADIk/R1ihsJADIiEh026JFaMRrWDJqF2_yNEXQCLcBGAs/s400/heartbeat05.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
As a significant bout in the history of UWF I have surveyed the internet for the general perception of <b>Bob Backlund</b>'s appearance here against <b>Nobuhiko Takada</b>. The first opinion is posted by a user going by "Dave Meltzer" over on the forum <a href="http://wrestlingclassics.com/cgi-bin/.ubbcgi/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=print_topic;f=9;t=057521">Wrestling Classics</a> back in 2005. Really him? It reads like him.</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i><span style="font-size: small;">The first match was great in my mind. However, there was a lot of
complaints in UWF about Bob doing too many pro wrestling spots. The
match got over with the crowd, but a lot of people didn't even want to
bring Backlund back. I remember the reaction when I was talking about
how great it was and the feedback I heard was in the company they were
very negative on Bob. When they did bring him back, Funaki did a number
on him in training and was very stiff with him in the ring as well.
Bob looked like he'd been through a war when they were done with him,
and they pretty much killed off his shooter rep. I don't think they
booked him after that, but I could be wrong.</span></i></blockquote>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
This checks out on the UWF side of things to a certain extent as Backlund's matches was not included on the UWF best matches so far compilation at the end of 1989. And that a relative rookie like Funaki would stiff Backlund at the dojo? Christ. Such self-seriousness - in UWF? Who would have thought it? Did UWF avail Backlund of their profound politico-philosophical treatise ahead of getting this booking? It all seems a bit harsh. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Our new friend over at <a href="http://americanpuro.blogspot.co.uk/2017/04/nobuhiko-takada-vs-bob-backlund-uwf.html">American Puro</a> has also weighed in on this potentially fascinating contest:</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i><span style="font-size: small;">Backlund's quirkiness adds charm to the match, a fun, almost
unpredictable element that distinguishes this from a lot of other
"shoot-style" bouts of the 80's. I won't go through the whole match
because at times, it's all over the place, but there are so many cool
touches and moments.</span></i> </blockquote>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Nearly 30 years of hindsight has opened up a lot of holes in UWF and with that in mind it doesn't seem that the obvious worked elements of Backlund are any more egregious than the UWF regular guys. Backlund does a couple of taunts and some of his strike selling is very much WWF 1981 but on the flip his stuff is all snug and graceful. His bodily charisma is actually superior in some regards and generally the Karl Gotch-trained Backlund appears is if he is actually really good at this grappling-wrestling lark. Surprise!</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The crowd enjoy him too. And, maybe because he appears credible or just maybe because everyone is likely aware of his accolades in the industry, whenever he gets Takada in a precarious position the crowd are just wilding out. He's not a heel but in this situation he is the perfect antagonist. But also he's not above selling, which he does just in time for the UWF Graphics Manager to switch the machine back on: </div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-lsaba9AK-Qg/WWjDcTNkM2I/AAAAAAAADJA/fGNg20AtyVIC-sS08JxK2jTvyaL3YfYJgCLcBGAs/s1600/heartbeat09.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="461" data-original-width="618" height="297" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-lsaba9AK-Qg/WWjDcTNkM2I/AAAAAAAADJA/fGNg20AtyVIC-sS08JxK2jTvyaL3YfYJgCLcBGAs/s400/heartbeat09.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
While there are good suplexes and stiff strikes (one which busts Backlund's nose) the most fascinating work is done on the ground. It has a catch vs. freestyle flavour that is irresistible, gruff lockdowns and silky hip-shifts to reverse position.</div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-W3HIWZHvFW0/WWjDcW0WVJI/AAAAAAAADI8/7fjlWTLrREAI9JsqEt0L-LsWMLBqgwv1QCEwYBhgL/s1600/heartbeat10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="431" data-original-width="613" height="280" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-W3HIWZHvFW0/WWjDcW0WVJI/AAAAAAAADI8/7fjlWTLrREAI9JsqEt0L-LsWMLBqgwv1QCEwYBhgL/s400/heartbeat10.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Plus everything that Backlund does as constitutes the physical grappling is done with intent and intensity and the blood dripping down his face only adds to that. In story Backlund is a better grappler than Takada, whose major victories come from strikes. But I think it is likely that Backlund just actually is a better grappler in a pro-wrestling context:</div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-h6DcnksxE9w/WWjDcSzBVxI/AAAAAAAADJE/FqC9jkl8NNQ2cWNB7C8vpvkXyCmcJnmVwCEwYBhgL/s1600/heartbeat11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="423" data-original-width="604" height="278" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-h6DcnksxE9w/WWjDcSzBVxI/AAAAAAAADJE/FqC9jkl8NNQ2cWNB7C8vpvkXyCmcJnmVwCEwYBhgL/s400/heartbeat11.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
Takada finds himself locked into positions and, having used up his rope break quota, results to striking his way out of holds:</div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7jJoGsSl0mA/WWjDdKBn86I/AAAAAAAADJI/x96nb6Z2PxIYjVOIv4DSfSjxj5-IrQpxgCEwYBhgL/s1600/heartbeat12.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="461" data-original-width="605" height="303" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7jJoGsSl0mA/WWjDdKBn86I/AAAAAAAADJI/x96nb6Z2PxIYjVOIv4DSfSjxj5-IrQpxgCEwYBhgL/s400/heartbeat12.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
This is a way better match than UWF seem to think it is. Shame. Top five in the company so far. Maybe top three. Best foreign star yet.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
But: is it on record anywhere that the finish of this match is kinda suspect? Like not-quite but near-Montreal screwjob levels of horseshittery? Backlund is locked in a kimura and he's going nowhere, sure. He should probably be tapping and I get the feeling, though don't ask me to pinpoint it, Takada was expecting Backlund to tap a spot previously when Takada got a super cinched-in half-crab in the middle of the ring that created a nice visual:</div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-kMGc-Qg-huY/WWi_WyPQdmI/AAAAAAAADI4/3FGY5nejuJAGtiHuvtcKTKXxUBDyf6d6QCLcBGAs/s1600/heartbeat13.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="456" data-original-width="615" height="296" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-kMGc-Qg-huY/WWi_WyPQdmI/AAAAAAAADI4/3FGY5nejuJAGtiHuvtcKTKXxUBDyf6d6QCLcBGAs/s400/heartbeat13.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Anyway Backlund kicks Takada off with his free leg and we go around and into this kimura bit on the mat and the ref just sort of steps in and waves it off. Takada is awarded the match by TKO (which surely could only happen if Backlund was on four downs and made a rope break, which clearly is not the case here).</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Adding to the suspicion is the fact that a tracksuited Maeda is in the ring lickety-split after the bell with Takada and the ref getting clear of a peeved Backlund. Sure, this could be a pre-arranged bit of fuckery designed to give Backlund an excuse for the loss, and if so it is well done. But also you can sort of see why it is worthy of question. <a href="https://www.cagematch.net/?id=111&nr=5328">Mizzle Assault Ant of the Cagematch community</a> seems to sway in my direction:</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>Backlund seemed to quit but it was called a TKO and Backlund seemed
legitimately confused. Maybe he was doing a bit but I didn't get it.
Apart from that though, fantastic match.</i></blockquote>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
My verdict? Backlund missed the right spot to tap and the UWF nabobs panicked and stepped in to ensure that Backlund wasn't going into business for himself. Though as no less a man than Sean Waltman would profess, Bob Backlund is a complete pro:</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/51FC7hnVxKA" width="560"></iframe>
</div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Over the house mic and soundtracked by a Mike Oldfield knock-off, Backlund gets in Maeda's face and cryptically says:</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>That's why I am you: you are me.</i></blockquote>
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Hmm. Ok! After we see a close-up of a pretty big welt around Takada's eye, there is a closing light show and visual display.</div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-CfT4MxU2ecM/WWi-SdedDNI/AAAAAAAADI0/m1A3m6oh0GcfXedftvLVsNo8qI5CeA0NwCLcBGAs/s1600/heartbeat14.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="383" data-original-width="575" height="266" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-CfT4MxU2ecM/WWi-SdedDNI/AAAAAAAADI0/m1A3m6oh0GcfXedftvLVsNo8qI5CeA0NwCLcBGAs/s400/heartbeat14.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
If you do watch this show then perhaps you could try switching the first two matches around for both the sake of entertainment and to restore Shigeo Miyato to his rightful place as opener. But a solid show with a main event you should probably try and see whether shoot-style fan or curious about the credentials of Bob Backlund as a talent.</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Cw9-sgUCGKg/WWdQTFe7u2I/AAAAAAAADH8/nfJubOprIIM13ed5Ob643AAHm0daU5OyQCLcBGAs/s1600/heart01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="239" data-original-width="319" height="299" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Cw9-sgUCGKg/WWdQTFe7u2I/AAAAAAAADH8/nfJubOprIIM13ed5Ob643AAHm0daU5OyQCLcBGAs/s400/heart01.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">AND FROM US, GOODNIGHT</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<b>NEXT TIME</b>: Budokan!D. Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14629124673589292567noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6812605115270563531.post-74745371955122897572017-07-11T14:19:00.000-07:002017-07-15T01:20:14.829-07:00UWF 10/11/1988 - FIGHTING NETWORK 2ND (05/31)<b>UWF Fighting Network 2nd</b><br />
Tsuyuhasi Sports Centre, Nagoya<br />
10th November 1988<br />
att. 5000<br />
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
UWF UWF UWF UWF UWF comes the logo spinning out of blackness YES but resplendent with a BLUENESS the blueness of the sky that UWF has launched cleanly into with a vision of a wrestling so pure that both wrestling and sport itself after this date is changed FOREVER.</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-BzWCU0K2zpo/WWU_W7VL7yI/AAAAAAAADHI/hjZP6_uqOg8kTpUrv4o52NzbUDlR2MElwCLcBGAs/s1600/fnh21.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="420" data-original-width="569" height="295" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-BzWCU0K2zpo/WWU_W7VL7yI/AAAAAAAADHI/hjZP6_uqOg8kTpUrv4o52NzbUDlR2MElwCLcBGAs/s400/fnh21.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">pls. add motion blur in post</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
No parade takes place today and entrances are clipped. But in this spartan aesthetic we find succour in a long black and white back and forth between our main eventers and top two names Nobuhiko Takada (who looks dour and pensive in his comments, as if to say 'if I lose this one then I am Yamazaki'd for the rest of my days') and Akira Maeda (who looks Apollonian, distanced, kingly, expecting to decimate as Maeda does).</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-DijmyfhEkUo/WWU_ylP8CbI/AAAAAAAADHM/EevrimGR1k8_SEO3BBGbD-XT_mpdoimVgCLcBGAs/s1600/fnh22.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="301" data-original-width="585" height="205" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-DijmyfhEkUo/WWU_ylP8CbI/AAAAAAAADHM/EevrimGR1k8_SEO3BBGbD-XT_mpdoimVgCLcBGAs/s400/fnh22.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I DECREE MYSELF EXCELLENT</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
We move quickly to the opener and of course Shigeo Miyato is starting the show this evening OF COURSE HE IS THAT IS WHAT HE DOES and why not have him face off against Tatsuo Nakano for the third time out of five shows already? I mean I know this is a thin roster but my god Maeda-san man there are a lot of permutations on offer especially if you pay for like one or two guests as is your wont and indeed trademark.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
Again they have a thoroughly decent if not brilliant match full of tense grapples and shirty kicks and cool suplexes. On reflection this is perhaps better than their 30 minute draw but not as good as the good match at The Professional Bout where Nakano split Miyato's eyebrow with a headbutt.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Miyato does much of the damage here in a manner that seems to suggest an elevation in perception. His kicks are just snappier and his control portions look all the more professional contrasted to Nakano's gruff posturing. His change-ups keep things interesting and the general structures of his more recent matches are different, throwing in a gorgeous belly-to-belly that transitions delightfully to groundwork, all set up with a series of kicks.</div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-jcmGWFXWcJI/WWUeEqM1keI/AAAAAAAADFo/VPkoTHauxV46FRBd-snkQfhTMA24cOczwCLcBGAs/s1600/fnn07.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="395" data-original-width="575" height="273" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-jcmGWFXWcJI/WWUeEqM1keI/AAAAAAAADFo/VPkoTHauxV46FRBd-snkQfhTMA24cOczwCLcBGAs/s400/fnn07.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Nakano raises some welts too, thundering Miyato with boots in the corner as depicted below before hitting a really cool low snap suplex that makes Miyato's head skim the ground. I can't decide whether it is dangerous or just really well executed.</div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-38XfY0hnU8Y/WWUdc-huuII/AAAAAAAADFk/sIJejAcKT4M7sXJJ6pw7e8lXRepN2xRSACLcBGAs/s1600/fnn06.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="424" data-original-width="490" height="345" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-38XfY0hnU8Y/WWUdc-huuII/AAAAAAAADFk/sIJejAcKT4M7sXJJ6pw7e8lXRepN2xRSACLcBGAs/s400/fnn06.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Nakano, if you will recall, kicked the everloving crap out of Tsunehito Naito so badly on the last show that we will never see him on a UWF show again. The performance looked for all the world like the classic rebuilding of a low level schlub into a mid-card player. And, with Nakano a draw and a loss down against Miyato, this feels like the time to give Nakano a moment in the sun.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Akira Maeda clearly feels otherwise. Miyato wins again, catching Nakano with a chickenwing to finish. Nakano doesn't tap and the referee just calls it. Nakano leaps up a few seconds later as if to say 'I didn't tap, I didn't lose' but there is no appeal process in this company. You're done, son. Show progression or defence - or go home.</div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-hCxsLfbMjno/WWUbLOdKr6I/AAAAAAAADFY/u9ExT7ZoBkspFWaH5riXMRkyjYqvvUUygCLcBGAs/s1600/fnn02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="453" data-original-width="565" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-hCxsLfbMjno/WWUbLOdKr6I/AAAAAAAADFY/u9ExT7ZoBkspFWaH5riXMRkyjYqvvUUygCLcBGAs/s400/fnn02.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Ultimately I do not care about the booking but trying to get into Maeda's head here is tough. Was this punishment for Nakano's smashing up of young Naito? Part of a big babyface push for Miyato? Time will tell. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
There is not a great deal of information out there on the internet for Yoji Anjo's opponent this evening. His name is Mark Rush and these are my learnings:</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>Mark Rush was a guy I liked from the early UWF2 even though he never
really had a good match. He was a amateur wrestler with an amusing
circus strongman mustache</i>. - <a href="http://segundacaida.blogspot.co.uk/2009/02/segunda-caidagoodhelmet-mix-tape-1-best.html">Segunda Caida</a></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>Mark Rush is a big muscled up American in his 40's, looks like a legit tough dude. - </i><a href="http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:3PkpDPnRukMJ:forums.prowrestling.com/showthread.php%3Ft%3D126583+&cd=11&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=uk&client=ubuntu">ShinobiMusashi from ProWrestling.com forum</a> (cache) </blockquote>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
That checks out. Here is a picture of Mr. Rush looking not unlike contemporary indie-folk musician Will Oldham:</div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-XNQcwFCBlfU/WWUXNPWi92I/AAAAAAAADFQ/9Hb7ej0QDMo7tz_VFLvMo54pCx8Frhe6ACLcBGAs/s1600/fnn03.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="363" data-original-width="526" height="275" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-XNQcwFCBlfU/WWUXNPWi92I/AAAAAAAADFQ/9Hb7ej0QDMo7tz_VFLvMo54pCx8Frhe6ACLcBGAs/s400/fnn03.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Today I went to UWF to speak to Akira Maeda<br />
When arriving at Narita I was pretty sure I saw Will Oldham<br />
He was wearing the same kind of beard when I saw him in <i>Old Joy</i><br />
Had he come to wrestle shoot-style with a dozen former athletes?<br />
(<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NSdZ_yZP8bk">link</a>)</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><br /> </i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Rush has a pleasing heft and this might be quite an ordinary thing to say but the groundwork chemistry that he displays with Anjo is fluid and incredibly watchable. There's a size disparity in Rush's favour but they play it as if Rush is tentative and new while Anjo is not at his first rodeo, so it all cancels out.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
I can't tell whether it is a false technique devised for artfulness or just two guys who know how to roll but there is a Fujiwara-ness to the catch stylings of both that is impressive. It is mean, it has a feeling of correctness, and it is unabashed about favouring flintiness over visual flair. For example, when attempting side control, Rush does that hilarious/dirty thing where the one on top grinds the forearm across the chin of the guy in the prone position. It's very niggly and I endorse it.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Thus far in UWF Anjo has been good as the babyface who gets fire but here his shtick is something else completely. 15 minutes pass as in a dream, slipping each others guard, barely bothering with strikes for long passages and just allowing the whole thing to resemble a Metamoris exhibition with way more intensity and some sick suplexes such as:</div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-TeWzoPX-Ldg/WWUhZcOBsSI/AAAAAAAADF4/t1keWY9_r7A0lJteTgKHHGBTxL2ISv8mACLcBGAs/s1600/fnn09.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="405" data-original-width="559" height="288" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-TeWzoPX-Ldg/WWUhZcOBsSI/AAAAAAAADF4/t1keWY9_r7A0lJteTgKHHGBTxL2ISv8mACLcBGAs/s400/fnn09.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Rush wins. After a cool improvised front slam/powerbomb/throw thing that winds Anjo, Rush takes back control on the quarter hour mark and sinks in a sleeper. Poor Anjo hasn't won in his parent company yet. But this is his best performance by far. Check this one out!</div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-H2iVt7GwZpo/WWUiDI2452I/AAAAAAAADF8/Vb90h1nTSBAB4-2ZXudWTPs2W3Ghe3YKwCLcBGAs/s1600/fnn10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="399" data-original-width="570" height="280" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-H2iVt7GwZpo/WWUiDI2452I/AAAAAAAADF8/Vb90h1nTSBAB4-2ZXudWTPs2W3Ghe3YKwCLcBGAs/s400/fnn10.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A Sucker's Evening</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lo-PSp9qZcw/WWUgedp4wzI/AAAAAAAADF0/MTsYvJW0brg2dxYvY-LZWFgEcY4MLto1QCLcBGAs/s1600/fnn08.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="423" data-original-width="603" height="280" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lo-PSp9qZcw/WWUgedp4wzI/AAAAAAAADF0/MTsYvJW0brg2dxYvY-LZWFgEcY4MLto1QCLcBGAs/s400/fnn08.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Many times we've been out drinking<br />
And many times we've shared our waza<br />
Well did you ever notice<br />
The kind of waza I got?</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
__________<br />
<br />
A little more work on the genuine Akira Maeda pages I have in my possession.<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>Heathrow Airport, </i><br />
<i>11th February 1982</i><br />
<br />
Akira Maeda had not slept on the flight from Tokyo to Singapore. Nor had he slept from Singapore to Frankfurt. He was beginning to doze off on the leg from Frankfurt to Heathrow until a stewardess shook his shoulder roughly and told him to put his seatbelt on for landing.<br />
<br />
He descended the stairs down to the tarmac last of all the passengers. It was cold and the standing water flowed into his low-top shoes when disturbed by a passing baggage vehicle.<br />
<br />
<i>- I could cause a scene at the passport desk and get sent home</i>.<br />
<br />
Maeda emerged, after shuffling grumpily through border control, into the tiled arrival area. Strange people sat around the perimeter on naugahyde seats. The strip lighting hurt Maeda's eyes, already fuzzy with fatigue and creeping jet-lag. A tall man with a thin moustache and a brown corduroy jacket held a sign with <i>WRESTLER LEE</i> that only after several moments did Maeda recognise as being for him.<br />
<br />
"You must be the Jap chap we ordered!", said the man. Maeda nodded and followed the man to a beige Austin Ambassador parked outside.<br />
<br />
In the car the man continued: "you're coming at a great time my boy, Crusher Brannigan needs a new partner to dance with and you're just the ticket they tell me. Do that martials arts stuff, anything you like, we get all the Bruce Lee films here, they love it! You don't know him do you?" Maeda nodded but did not understand.<br />
<br />
- <i>I hope everybody here does not talk all the time</i></blockquote>
<br />
__________<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Up next is Bart Vale who looks quite the entertaining dickhead in an ice white vest and long trousers combination replete with late 80s shithead country star mullet and moustache. Look at it!</div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-y9qrVp1EZug/WWTeALCH5BI/AAAAAAAADE4/7M_jwdWHw_cophH8AGp3qf6oN_RBAAS4gCLcBGAs/s1600/fnn01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="417" data-original-width="504" height="330" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-y9qrVp1EZug/WWTeALCH5BI/AAAAAAAADE4/7M_jwdWHw_cophH8AGp3qf6oN_RBAAS4gCLcBGAs/s400/fnn01.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Mr. Vale is an expert in, and representative of, the sport of kenpō - about which I know very little and as far as I can tell the existence of which only serves as a piece of information that UFC co-commentator Joe Rogan will scatter during a fight ("OHH!!!!!!!!! He's trained in kenpō, he should have scouted that!"). Our cherished friend TK Scissors would <a href="http://tkscissors.blogspot.co.uk/2017/02/rings-102294-94-fighting-network-rings.html">write a little on the aesthetics of Bart Vale</a> when he would wash up in Maeda's later folly RINGS and was similarly cheered (by this time he was wearing Apollo Creed-style Stars & Stripes shorts):</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i><span style="font-family: inherit;">a wild scene to be sure, but at the same time, how can we come away from the physical and æsthetic and indeed existential fact of Bart Vale and not think, at least in part, "good for him"?</span> </i></blockquote>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Vale faces Kazuo Yamazaki, fresh from another trouncing at the hands of Akira Maeda. His contribution to aesthetics is a newly-grown moustache and discbeard which remains, in tandem with a shaved head, the cornerstone of his look to this day.</div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-jx_TiHFgh_M/WWUWeX5hn_I/AAAAAAAADFM/ZtMMtNZ5tTcVfzFsERDWApUrQhJ2PNH-wCLcBGAs/s1600/fnn05.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="424" data-original-width="558" height="303" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-jx_TiHFgh_M/WWUWeX5hn_I/AAAAAAAADFM/ZtMMtNZ5tTcVfzFsERDWApUrQhJ2PNH-wCLcBGAs/s400/fnn05.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">great discbeards of wrestling vol. 4</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Both men speak before the match. Yamazaki's words remain lost to my weak and feeble language senses. Vale's, however, can be captured and preserved like the pearls they are:</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>My name is Bart Vale. I'm from Miami, Florida, USA. I'm known as the American Ninja. (unintelligble) This is my first time in Japan. Competing here with some of the world's best athletes, I understand, and I'm in top physical shape and I hope to do real well.</i></blockquote>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
We begin and it is clear that Vale has those 'educated feet' you often hear about. He can do those high taekwondo style leg lifts and does this kind of circling motion with his leg in the air that indicates he could kick your left ear with his left foot standing in an orthodox position. But he's not just a man of kicks - he has some alright stuff on the ground too and this should prove quite the match.</div>
<br />
But the kicks are the main deal:<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qsMwFa2vmXg/WWU3ceXaCsI/AAAAAAAADGc/upTPMmxYP0oHowedWWnEkQWdg6guiD_iQCLcBGAs/s1600/fnn12.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="367" data-original-width="562" height="260" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qsMwFa2vmXg/WWU3ceXaCsI/AAAAAAAADGc/upTPMmxYP0oHowedWWnEkQWdg6guiD_iQCLcBGAs/s400/fnn12.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Yamazaki does the classic 'wrestler in MMA' trick of looking to grab the leg and shoot through to progress to groundwork. Sometimes it's successful and sometimes he just gets another kick for his troubles. Also Vale is just so damn rangy, he's always near the ropes to break out of trouble and that is only if using the untrapped limbs to kick/punch Yamazaki off control doesn't work.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Vale's not the best UWF guy ever. And his reputation as a real tough guy outside of wrestling is apparently made of dreams and wishes (he apparently passes his worked wins over Ken Shamrock in PWFG as real). But I do not care for that. Vale's kicking style feels legitimate and dangerous, so the dynamic here is interesting and it makes for a good 8 minute match with a smart professional like Yamazaki conducting everything.</div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-29DHKBjIQlo/WWU3cBjNZ1I/AAAAAAAADGU/4mDp0AuRqtY3vCb0djb99vnpMun1lfcxwCEwYBhgL/s1600/fnn11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="459" data-original-width="666" height="275" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-29DHKBjIQlo/WWU3cBjNZ1I/AAAAAAAADGU/4mDp0AuRqtY3vCb0djb99vnpMun1lfcxwCEwYBhgL/s400/fnn11.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Yamazaki gets some steam back by beating the foreign interloper. First Yamazaki hits a German suplex that Vale, clearly not used to back/neck bumping, assists greatly. This is followed by a smart cross kneelock to which Vale, protective of his lower limbs, taps quickly.</div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-BZOsbMZmokk/WWU3cvgVogI/AAAAAAAADGY/6OiyKa7lomIAXpsvrnlTDDx3LU5WVbQvQCEwYBhgL/s1600/fnn13.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="317" data-original-width="588" height="215" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-BZOsbMZmokk/WWU3cvgVogI/AAAAAAAADGY/6OiyKa7lomIAXpsvrnlTDDx3LU5WVbQvQCEwYBhgL/s400/fnn13.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-go9SF98Ci1s/WWUWKxVoQqI/AAAAAAAADFI/jc1k40uA_LwS7pGNVxFGDyzHZ7BG2x3_gCLcBGAs/s1600/fnn04.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="393" data-original-width="543" height="288" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-go9SF98Ci1s/WWUWKxVoQqI/AAAAAAAADFI/jc1k40uA_LwS7pGNVxFGDyzHZ7BG2x3_gCLcBGAs/s400/fnn04.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">ENJOY THIS BART VALE BONUS IMAGE</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The star-studded main event is a rematch of an earlier UWF Newborn bout as Field Marshal of UWF Akira Maeda takes on a Nobuhiko Takada reinvigorated by a quick crushing of Norman Smiley two months previous.</div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-g10M9na4aYE/WWU3dRPynDI/AAAAAAAADGg/zGU0c6ED4w8ri2dV-T5YAf8hBaykRtS0QCEwYBhgL/s1600/fnn14.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="318" data-original-width="550" height="231" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-g10M9na4aYE/WWU3dRPynDI/AAAAAAAADGg/zGU0c6ED4w8ri2dV-T5YAf8hBaykRtS0QCEwYBhgL/s400/fnn14.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
There is no point in being coy and writerly about this match. It is great and I think I'd have to say the best UWF Newborn match so far, trumping the Takada-Yamazaki match from The Professional Bout.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Another interview pairing occurs, this time in colour, revealing Maeda to be wearing a very lovely black UWF track jacket. We then cut straight to the fighters seconds out. There is no feeling out and Maeda pings a high left foot off Takada's eardrum, instantly calling back the bomb thrown by Yamazaki that knocked Takada stupid.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Some feeling out occurs as Takada worms his way back in, though Maeda firstly seems in light control, allowing Takada to get himself trapped in predicaments while the kingpin mocks his inept shooting. And then after a little while Maeda decides enough is enough and just starts whaling on Takada. </div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-UAyNNWdBG-A/WWU3gyXk7ZI/AAAAAAAADG4/aNtBB52vlzUBMZrenDUanGryvjfAG5yfACEwYBhgL/s1600/fnn20.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="393" data-original-width="408" height="385" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-UAyNNWdBG-A/WWU3gyXk7ZI/AAAAAAAADG4/aNtBB52vlzUBMZrenDUanGryvjfAG5yfACEwYBhgL/s400/fnn20.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
After a particularly gruesome kick we enjoy the debut of the following graphic:<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-EgytUvO24cc/WWU3e2FPd0I/AAAAAAAADGo/Rlje_oNfCGgmVyVr2b7ATTQg2tpPvD_qQCEwYBhgL/s1600/fnn15.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="438" data-original-width="591" height="296" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-EgytUvO24cc/WWU3e2FPd0I/AAAAAAAADGo/Rlje_oNfCGgmVyVr2b7ATTQg2tpPvD_qQCEwYBhgL/s400/fnn15.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
And a new graphic is enjoyed at points to indicate the introduction of the new rope break rule (from what I can ascertain, the third rope break counts to your knockdown tally):</div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-LtqATB7DsYY/WWU3fZ29pkI/AAAAAAAADGs/9ynKocNIfRQX6urNC2e278Hv__8JSbD1QCEwYBhgL/s1600/fnn17.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="448" data-original-width="587" height="305" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-LtqATB7DsYY/WWU3fZ29pkI/AAAAAAAADGs/9ynKocNIfRQX6urNC2e278Hv__8JSbD1QCEwYBhgL/s400/fnn17.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Things start to really pop off after Takada takes rope break one. Maeda senses the kill and boots his man down for his second knockdown and, on getting up, puts him down for a third time. And to add insult to injury Takada gets up and is forced to the ground into a rough waki-gatame that results in another rope-break:</div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-V6qYzS-s0q8/WWU3eJms5DI/AAAAAAAADGk/_WOA1M_cJxADSfZGiLwqabngaOnZlHbNQCEwYBhgL/s1600/fnn16.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="445" data-original-width="548" height="323" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-V6qYzS-s0q8/WWU3eJms5DI/AAAAAAAADGk/_WOA1M_cJxADSfZGiLwqabngaOnZlHbNQCEwYBhgL/s400/fnn16.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
In total desperation Takada walks through another Maeda blow and launches into a flurry of his own, finally putting Maeda down for a brief count. The entirety of the last 8-10 minutes is impossible to accurately re-tell off a single watch but it just contains exchanges of desperate knockdowns and intense submissions that the crowd are just exploding out of their seats for.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
On legs of rubber both men find themselves on four knockdowns apiece. There is now no need for a full KO, just either a knockdown or a submission fully locked in any part of the ring. Maeda hits a bomb that staggers Takada - but he blows right back and puts Maeda down for a brief moment with a hooping kick that is enough to win the match by TKO! Maeda gets to his knees as if to show he was not fully out of it but the unthinkable has happened and the crowd are going WILD! They surge forward through the crash barrier and Takada mounts the turnbuckle to soak up their love:</div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wlFNI2hT5RU/WWU3f3NKPbI/AAAAAAAADGw/oRWa3en_1RUFokQ9stkuOJMUnVdgGo1VgCEwYBhgL/s1600/fnn18.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="399" data-original-width="576" height="276" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wlFNI2hT5RU/WWU3f3NKPbI/AAAAAAAADGw/oRWa3en_1RUFokQ9stkuOJMUnVdgGo1VgCEwYBhgL/s400/fnn18.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I AM NOW THE AKIRA MAEDA CHAMPION OF UWF</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Takada's victory is confirmed with a graphic. Maeda shakes Takada's hand and leaves haughtily down some backstage corridors. Nakano follows Takada in his lovely UWF track jacket and we close. Great match to close a good overall show! </div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wpZnXlCwtbA/WWU3gTVBd1I/AAAAAAAADHE/ToyNs6fsPWAmtFs9jdTWH4_az7RTDAUwwCEwYBhgL/s1600/fnn19.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="421" data-original-width="648" height="258" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wpZnXlCwtbA/WWU3gTVBd1I/AAAAAAAADHE/ToyNs6fsPWAmtFs9jdTWH4_az7RTDAUwwCEwYBhgL/s400/fnn19.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I DID IT</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
According to a UWF VHS released in late 1989 containing their best 10 matches up to that date, this was positioned only #5, one behind Yamazaki-Takada from The Professional Bout. We have also seen their #8 (Miyato-Anjo from the last show in Hakata) and #7 (Yamazaki-Maeda from opening night). None of the matches in the top 3 are yet to occur - which is something to look forward to! Please stay with us until we do.</div>
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<b>NEXT TIME</b>: A former WWF champion comes to play!D. Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14629124673589292567noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6812605115270563531.post-90145602962689629572017-07-10T16:00:00.000-07:002017-07-15T01:28:45.491-07:00UWF 24/09/1988 - FIGHTING NETWORK HAKATA (04/31)<b>UWF Fighting Network Hakata</b><br />
Hakata Star Lanes, Fukuoka<br />
24th September 1988<br />
att. 4000<br />
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
After a slightly confusing (but entertaining) show, comprising three regular-style UWF bouts in the emerging genre known as 'shoot-style' alongside three actual shoot-boxing bouts and one match thrilling in its indeterminacy of style and rules between promotion kingpin Akira Maeda and fabled Dutch grump Gerard Gordeau, UWF scale things back for the first in their Fighting Network pair of shows.</div>
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-EI0Q3iqBN5M/WWNdV4fjAKI/AAAAAAAADDc/TWWzfwBpiS0WEWfsH0mUvDDT22dHzW09gCLcBGAs/s1600/fnh01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="393" data-original-width="601" height="261" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-EI0Q3iqBN5M/WWNdV4fjAKI/AAAAAAAADDc/TWWzfwBpiS0WEWfsH0mUvDDT22dHzW09gCLcBGAs/s400/fnh01.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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After some scrolling text (white on black, very Nagisa Oshima) that I think heralds our interesting new addition to the rules (more later) comes a classic-if-slightly-workmanlike peppily-soundtracked montage featuring wrestlers training and fans arriving at the SHOOT bowling alley-cum-wrestling venue of the low-ceilinged Hakata Star Lanes. It is good and breezy fare but it feels as if it was cobbled together on the day. For instance: we see Kazuo Yamazaki jogging around the venue in a manner that rings slightly false for a man so clearly meticulous in his preparations.</div>
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This is followed by a full parade of fighters: the original "shoot-style six" of the first UWF show (in approximate ranking, as of this show: Maeda, Yamazaki, Takada, Miyato, Nakano, Anjo) return, as does Norman Smiley. One new face is seen, a fresh-faced youth with an athletic physique, who goes by the name Tsunehito Naito. It is not Maeda who cuts the customary thank you promo, but Yamazaki, who receives quite a thunderous reaction.</div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Anfqo9GkNtI/WWQDkYtmwrI/AAAAAAAADEQ/KnOZwYGZMrsPlQHWsvuYqynqS3CSaeO2ACLcBGAs/s1600/fnh06.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="376" data-original-width="552" height="271" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Anfqo9GkNtI/WWQDkYtmwrI/AAAAAAAADEQ/KnOZwYGZMrsPlQHWsvuYqynqS3CSaeO2ACLcBGAs/s400/fnh06.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Anjo looks for position</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
Perennial show opener and likeable babyface Shigeo Miyato opens up against serial loser Yoji Anjo. Like many Miyato matches, it is on the longer side and completely and utterly competent, with skiddy little kicks that zip through the air. Miyato doesn't exude "big star" but the crowd are always drawn into his sphere by the quality of his drama.</div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
Anjo works in the underdog role in a match with a different kind of pacing. Miyato's matches thus far have seen a careful opening of intense groundwork before progressing to big strikes and suplexes to conclude. Here the rhythm is different. Strikes break out in clusters. Suplexes happen out of nothing. Groundwork can be prolonged or it can be momentary. It gives the match, between two low rankers with much to prove, a testy and unsettled feeling which might detract from the smooth flow beloved of wrestling critics but adds to the 'realism' quotient greatly.</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-VO7bwOmdp3s/WWQDb29sF-I/AAAAAAAADEM/blNhtlCvlyc9L13_chXmtl0swftROR55gCLcBGAs/s1600/fnh07.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="381" data-original-width="563" height="270" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-VO7bwOmdp3s/WWQDb29sF-I/AAAAAAAADEM/blNhtlCvlyc9L13_chXmtl0swftROR55gCLcBGAs/s400/fnh07.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">dancers, poets</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
Anjo's performance wins hearts through battling and resilience in the face of Miyato's presentation as another good guy who just has a bit more in the way of stuff and nouse.</div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
The ending puts both over: Miyato belts Anjo in the guts with a rough kick but Anjo beats the count at 9.5. Miyato works Anjo over again with several strikes. Anjo keels over and this time is done for, giving Miyato the first actual KO win in a UWF shoot-style match.</div>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CI4UMc7B9-Q/WWP4iVcXHCI/AAAAAAAADDs/5Iz0SzhVcdoXwemp9GrkuCcLgquRdmrpgCLcBGAs/s1600/fnh02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="406" data-original-width="598" height="271" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CI4UMc7B9-Q/WWP4iVcXHCI/AAAAAAAADDs/5Iz0SzhVcdoXwemp9GrkuCcLgquRdmrpgCLcBGAs/s400/fnh02.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
Bout two sees the debut - in both UWF and indeed all of professional wrestling - of 17 year old Tsunehito Naito. Over the other side of the ring is Tatsuo Nakano who is wearing the expression of a bulldog that just licked piss from a thistle. The bell rings and Naito shows some moxy for all of 8 seconds with a nice stinging kick that the crowd love.</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-CaXg64tzEtU/WWQEjsABxTI/AAAAAAAADEU/8W8gY4BpQgg3yCOCvYY6fLS5E2DR8fT3wCLcBGAs/s1600/fnh08.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="331" data-original-width="537" height="246" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-CaXg64tzEtU/WWQEjsABxTI/AAAAAAAADEU/8W8gY4BpQgg3yCOCvYY6fLS5E2DR8fT3wCLcBGAs/s400/fnh08.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">moments before death</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
From there Naito gets nothing - absolutely nothing - except a love tap of a slap and a hopeful cheer of his name later in the contest. Nakano is having absolutely none of Naito's youthful bullshit in this match. An ogoshi into a juji-gatame sees a rope break save Naito's arm and shoulder from being separated. A forceful sacrifice to the floor is broken up by it taking place at the ring edge. Finally Nakano, after all of two minutes, heaves a kick into the teenager and not so much pretzels the kid in a half crab as much as he fully candy cane curls his back into a very understandable submission. Brutal. The crowd kind of go 'oh shit was that the end?' in a way that is mixed between deflated and impressed.</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Z6eFcxkg20s/WWQFDU1zsYI/AAAAAAAADEg/CxhTevUt51EclZDy0XkbfeBqGCpWgm7xwCLcBGAs/s1600/fnh10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="411" data-original-width="535" height="306" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Z6eFcxkg20s/WWQFDU1zsYI/AAAAAAAADEg/CxhTevUt51EclZDy0XkbfeBqGCpWgm7xwCLcBGAs/s400/fnh10.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">GODDAMN KIDS ON MY GODDAMN LAWN</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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As a piece of theatre it is incredible. Nakano is recast, morphing instantly from a low-ranked chancer to a thuggish bully. Certainly this match was not a true shoot but it felt very close to other footage of liberty-taking matches of yore. And a relevant biographical note: this is the last of young UWF dojo-trained Naito you will see in this company. That's a lot of resources for a one-job guy and suggests a darker reason for his transition out of the promotion. Precious little data exists other than to say he will surface in a few Tokyo-based start-ups (George Takano's post-SWS failure company Pro Wrestling Crusaders, Dramatic Dream Team) without really making much impact. Crumbs.</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-5yNclhom2J8/WWQEj21sPFI/AAAAAAAADEY/le2DraJBggIVto61_2MMXNJCJCrT_3VxACEwYBhgL/s1600/fnh09.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="358" data-original-width="556" height="257" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-5yNclhom2J8/WWQEj21sPFI/AAAAAAAADEY/le2DraJBggIVto61_2MMXNJCJCrT_3VxACEwYBhgL/s400/fnh09.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">dead</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
_____________________________<br />
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I have not had the time to pursue any more translation of the apparently Akira Maeda-related manuscript that came into my possession. However <i>KSS</i> (that's me, or this blog) has been deep in thought about <a href="https://www.cagesideseats.com/2017/7/7/15933046/globalization-and-homogenization-pro-wrestling-njpw-wwe-kenny-omega-okada-dave-meltzer-star-ratings">an article written by treasured wrestling thinker Dave Walsh on the topic of homogeneity in wrestling</a>. Here is an excerpt:</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Gone are the days of any wrestling being obscure, instead
we have an era where everything is available within seconds. But also
gone is the diversity in pro wrestling styles. The idea of New Japan's
"Strong Style" became an indie darling talking point, with Americans
adapting the phrase for their own hybrid style, fusing together the
mid-90's high flying with the stiff strikes of New Japan and the head
drop high drama of All Japan and NOAH into one homogeneous style.
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<div id="EnYRpR">
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If you tune into <a href="https://www.cagesideseats.com/wwe-raw">WWE Monday Night Raw</a>
now, that's the style that you'll see on display. If you watch one of
the bigger indie shows around right now, that's the style that you'll
see. If you watch modern New Japan that's the style that you'll see. Why
WWE felt the need to create its own cruiserweight division is beyond
me, considering none of them are doing anything that different from the
rest of the roster, anyway. Kevin Owens is doing swantons and frog
splashes alongside his slams and powerbombs, Sami Zayn is flying with
crossbodies, dives and moonsaults, Luke Harper is hitting dives as often
as he is taking heads off with lariats and so forth and so on. Someone
like The Miz feels so different because in a world of Dolph Zigglers and
Dean Ambroses he actually is different.</div>
</blockquote>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
And I guess because <i>KSS </i>is an endeavour covering a style that is, compared to today, a complete outlier in terms of both presentation and 'philosophy', then it seems that Dave's theories and I are natural bedfellows because UWF is dead and its footprints long dried-up.</div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
Dave has also established concern with the language utilised by critics of wrestling, suggestive of either a conscious or unconscious reading of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northrop_Frye#Contribution_to_literary_criticism">Canadian literary critic Northrop Frye</a>, as well as a furrow-raised sigh at the depth of critical influence held by noted wrestling historian Dave Meltzer:</div>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
<div dir="ltr" lang="en">
I blame Meltzer for a lot of this. Not his intent, but wrestling has completely adhered to his tastes and vindicated his opinions as canon.</div>
— d.w. (@dvewlsh) <a href="https://twitter.com/dvewlsh/status/873893563494518784">June 11, 2017</a></blockquote>
<script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
It is a good read and a provocative piece, and Dave (Walsh) is a good follow on Twitter. He's certainly not 'wrong' as i. he is not one of those wrestling scoopz and hot takes guys who are really just post-modernist yutzes building a brand for themselves, so his words feel authentically-felt ii. he is demonstrably right inasmuch as the star rating guide adopted by Meltzer early in his fabled newsletter is now not just the metric used by most critics but part of the language of the industry and iii. that old hoary standby of wrestling's subjectivity meaning 'wrong' is impossible.</div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
Supporting Dave's piece is a look at the current scene: there is no shoot-style featuring genuine athletes, that indeed many current wrestlers are wrestling fans that like to ape their heroes, there is very little extreme and hardcore wrestling, there are very few huge stars that means a lot of wrestling shows look like some people you don't know just having a match, WWE and NXT wrestlers are more open about their homages to cool foreign/indy wrestlers in a way that Seth Rollins can just do a move that directly takes from both Kazuchika Okada and Kenny Omega and no one bats an eyelid.</div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/V5D3Ve6-_BA" width="560"></iframe>
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<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The <i>KSS</i> view is this: there is lots of good wrestling that Meltzer is not rating or introducing to his curation of wrestling discourse because he lacks the time, not the interest. And yes, definitely, the influence of his opinion has crept into the
work of the wrestlers, particularly those self-reflexive types able to
parse the underlying worldview behind what makes a match highly-rated
and replicate it for themselves. Also: television flattens wrestling, an artform best experienced live.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Perhaps because we can see so much current and historical wrestling within 10 seconds of thinking that is what you want, KSS argues that there is more good wrestling than ever to an almost maddening range of diversity. Just look at the history of shoot-style on this blog. Tracking the 'Long UWF' (copyright TK Scissors) alone is a project that could take years.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
That said, and this is a personal feeling: a lot of top matches in the major promotions of the world feel like they are shooting for the same thing, the same emotional register and appeal to a small band of critics, only to different degrees of success. I'd go as far to call this a homogeneity that is not just in the wrestling but in every aspect of the presentation: camera shots, video packages, vocal cadences, announcing, lighting, etc.</div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-_Qumi1SFUeo/WWQCWeFlQ_I/AAAAAAAADEI/0SQSEmlGDZAvtC2btO6mBjqHpP1EC5PGwCLcBGAs/s1600/wrestlijgposter.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="600" height="200" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-_Qumi1SFUeo/WWQCWeFlQ_I/AAAAAAAADEI/0SQSEmlGDZAvtC2btO6mBjqHpP1EC5PGwCLcBGAs/s400/wrestlijgposter.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">completely different of course</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
But if homogeneity is perceived it will, in such a small world given to contrariness, reach saturation point. People will tire of 40 minute matches featuring high spot overkill. <a href="http://yottsumepuroresu.blogspot.co.uk/2014/05/njpw-hiroshi-tanahashi-talks-about-his.html">Hiroshi Tanahashi has written about it</a>. And the tastemakers in promotion, wrestling itself, and its critical culture, will vaunt other names clearly doing something markedly different.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Whether that difference comes from actual difference (such as Walsh's example of The Miz, someone who cannot physically perform the feats of such highly-rated matches and in turn crafts a different route for himself) or self-reflexive wrestlers once again attempting to anticipate the critical curve cannot be known. And such is the nature of capital that an emergent idiosyncrasy will be purchased and made into the homogeneous commodity anew. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
There is definitely different wrestling out there that is captured on tape and preserved. I suspect there is more outside of the usual choke points of the US, Japan, and Mexico. Dave points to All Japan and Big Japan for their contrast to a great deal of modern wrestling. I would add in the Mexican independents IWRG and DTU that contain the feeling of danger and actual violence gone in the PG era. There is true variety in a DDT show. On a great New Japan show it is possible to see several different kinds of matches (though their house shows often blend into one thing). And, whether you like it or not, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4A1VpPXy4ws">the worldview of Mike Quackenbush</a> underpins the ongoing difference of CHIKARA</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
It is difficult to talk accurately about what can be done about the critical culture because it is one thing to change wrestling but quite another to change how people think. Actual critics produce work rather than cynically-conceived 'takes' constructed to draw fire so fan-hives such as Twitter and Reddit are not necessarily studded with good or even okay critics. The way that both sites are constructed around upvotes or likes naturally brings about a crowd-sourced race to the middle to gain the fastest or most popular opinion. And it goes without saying that Twitter is poisonous for any kind of discourse.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
It would be great to think that other places or personas can reach Meltzer's level of influence and contribution. But also nobody produces as much material (though <a href="http://tkscissors.blogspot.co.uk/">TK Scissors</a>' unpaid 550000 words over 8 months bears comparison to Meltzer's estimated near million) and nearly no one else is as personal agenda-free or open-minded (I do like Alan Counihan, STRIGGA, and John Pollock as general surveyors of wrestling who put the work before their personality). </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Anyway, go and read Dave's piece and have a think.</div>
_____________________________<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Another short contest occurs between Nobuhiko Takada and Norman Smiley. On the same show in which Smiley was workmanlike in victory against Yoji Anjo, Takada was the subject of a stunning defeat at the hands of Kazuo Yamazaki that represented the high watermark of the UWF aesthetic thus far.</div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-mpaejUSdO0I/WWQBgchu_MI/AAAAAAAADEE/ZZ4s9FiH3xAftizRL2SHAw5_gf9o0p3uACEwYBhgL/s1600/fnh03.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="387" data-original-width="548" height="281" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-mpaejUSdO0I/WWQBgchu_MI/AAAAAAAADEE/ZZ4s9FiH3xAftizRL2SHAw5_gf9o0p3uACEwYBhgL/s400/fnh03.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
I note that Smiley is the most fond of gutwrench variations, often wheeling his opponents about with his hands wrapped around the middle, which is indicative of the proclivities of the amateur wrestler is it not?</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
Smiley grabs the upper hand in the second half of the bout with a sharp half-crab that Takada hits the ropes to break. Smiley grabs Takada, boots the crocked leg, and cinches the crab back in for a big UUUHHHHHH from the crowd before a rope break. Smiley boots Takada in the head and then sets up for a kind of rear naked choke with legs hooked in that the crowd do a super large UHHHHHHHHHHHHHH for while Takada is doing some A+ selling:</div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Dlu-UV9NKbs/WWQArQf3feI/AAAAAAAADD8/h_oiCN21mrUlSqLKESR5hNjbBKe4cgaNwCLcBGAs/s1600/fnh05.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="349" data-original-width="469" height="297" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Dlu-UV9NKbs/WWQArQf3feI/AAAAAAAADD8/h_oiCN21mrUlSqLKESR5hNjbBKe4cgaNwCLcBGAs/s400/fnh05.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
The finish occurs one minute after the timing of this shot, though it is Takada who wins in a fairly Hulk Hogan-ish style. Another escape prefigures a couple of kicks, a big back exploder suplex, and a smart heel hold for the instant tap on the six minute mark. Maybe this is the way of real fights?</div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-kltuCpYeIqM/WWQBZH2_Q1I/AAAAAAAADEA/DtAqEOhakRYCxCyyAE7i0YKGh8dKh9fQwCLcBGAs/s1600/fnh04.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="362" data-original-width="551" height="262" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-kltuCpYeIqM/WWQBZH2_Q1I/AAAAAAAADEA/DtAqEOhakRYCxCyyAE7i0YKGh8dKh9fQwCLcBGAs/s400/fnh04.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
The main event features Chief Inspector Akira Maeda defending his belt of lineal Akira Maedaness against his opening night opponent Kazuo Yamazaki. If you recall, Yamazaki has rebuilt his credibility by besting Norman Smiley and shocking Nobuhiko Takada in a super match.</div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
The rematch is not as good as their initial encounter. However, it is still good and, crucially, it is an important learning experience for the ongoing dogma of UWF and as such we (I) here at <i>KSS</i> urge you to its relevance. UWF's new - and to many, classic - ruleset is now in play and five knockdowns result in a victory by TKO. Pinfalls seem to have finally been eradicated.</div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-E_12zD8PW60/WWQGUkGu2aI/AAAAAAAADEo/e9ZSrIbj8T038t_DJJDYkSK-_VIv8Lq_gCLcBGAs/s1600/fnh12.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="394" data-original-width="586" height="268" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-E_12zD8PW60/WWQGUkGu2aI/AAAAAAAADEo/e9ZSrIbj8T038t_DJJDYkSK-_VIv8Lq_gCLcBGAs/s400/fnh12.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
And that is how Maeda wins. Yamazaki, lacking Maeda's striking power, attempts to play the long game of working Maeda over and wearing him down for the submission. But Maeda closes the door before he is caught out, hoofing Yamazaki every which way for a TKO win just after the 10 minute mark - short by UWF standards.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Given the lack of depth to the roster and the way that Yamazaki was smartly reconstructed since his initial defeat and received rapturously at the parade, this quick battering seems only to underscore the solar nature of Maeda in the UWFniverse. Perhaps now we are seeing how the divisions that ended the company in 1990 would arise, with Yamazaki eventually aligning with Takada (who willingly jobbed to Yamazaki last month) in the creation of UWF-I.</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-k7t9Jd0vkkk/WWQFjXejwoI/AAAAAAAADEk/tGG-VPBDQCgmqKKGiISO7tI9IOnqbzIyQCLcBGAs/s1600/fnh11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="430" data-original-width="571" height="300" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-k7t9Jd0vkkk/WWQFjXejwoI/AAAAAAAADEk/tGG-VPBDQCgmqKKGiISO7tI9IOnqbzIyQCLcBGAs/s400/fnh11.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">in the end, nothing really matters, and also Maeda wins</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
With entrances clipped this edition of UWF passed by, with four substantiative bouts and sufficient development, inside an hour. It's rare that anyone might describe a shoot-style wrestling show as a light, fun, relaxed watch to serve with a zinfandel and perhaps a quality vanilla ice cream - but this may be the one.</div>
<br />
<b>NEXT TIME</b>: Maeda and Takada do it all over again! And two new faces!D. Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14629124673589292567noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6812605115270563531.post-48882237143385510532017-07-06T14:52:00.002-07:002023-04-26T23:40:28.100-07:00UWF 13/8/88 - "THE PROFESSIONAL BOUT" (03/31)<b>UWF "The Professional Bout"</b><br />
Ariake Colosseum, Tokyo<br />
13th August, 1988 <br />
att. 12000 <br />
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
The second version of UWF thus far has comprised two tightly-run shows of three bouts apiece, with an established roster of six New Japan defectors and only one guest, that focus heavily on the establishment of the parameters of a completely new style of wrestling. They've been really great to watch. </div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2HwMQGNVyMQ/WV5MPNqtIGI/AAAAAAAAC_c/a8ZJRu4uyucuoCPyMsAJqqHVx_SFGqp1wCLcBGAs/s1600/probout01.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="300" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2HwMQGNVyMQ/WV5MPNqtIGI/AAAAAAAAC_c/a8ZJRu4uyucuoCPyMsAJqqHVx_SFGqp1wCLcBGAs/s400/probout01.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
Having quickly and clearly established himself as the king of the realm, Akira Maeda takes inspiration from his former boss Antonio Inoki by casting his net to <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yh8Of-cXbMY">the wide wide world of sports</a> to find a man suitable to meet his mettle. What he reels in is something we will talk about down-post.</div>
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<a name='more'></a><div style="text-align: justify;">
There is no reference to French filmmaker Chris Marker that I can ascertain from the opening shots. But there is definitely an aesthete rather than a salaryman with their hand on the tiller during the serious-looking press conference that begins our presentation. There's a strange formalist sensibility in play that words or even .gifs can't quite do justice to. Both in the framing of shots and the way the camera moves in this opening VT there is a real sense of geometry and angularity of bodies and structures that subtly suggests UWF is an aesthetic of parsimony and asceticism compared to the excesses of elsewhere. Where Pancrase is full of sex, as Hybrid Shoot contend, it is as if Maeda is trying to de-sex the UWF.</div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-A0zUAgDBAMA/WV5TCRNc8MI/AAAAAAAAC_o/qTanuHhQZPQFFvIus4pDgSTis-Fn_zPEQCLcBGAs/s1600/probout02.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="446" data-original-width="613" height="290" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-A0zUAgDBAMA/WV5TCRNc8MI/AAAAAAAAC_o/qTanuHhQZPQFFvIus4pDgSTis-Fn_zPEQCLcBGAs/s400/probout02.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
Whoever directed it has a strange sense of humour. The shots of Maeda & co. at a press conference are intercut with very brief shots of the Ariake Colosseum that cut back to the conference on the summoning of a sharply dramatic keyboard stab. I sense Maeda has discovered Peter Greenaway and his draughtsman's eye. Here is a clear-line heavy shot of Kazuo Yamazaki that could probably be drawn with five skilled strokes of a pencil.</div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-QGDu8QRGs88/WV5Twcb5ZBI/AAAAAAAAC_s/wyralUlke6IFUwD31J_lMC_3QfHWKJrYACLcBGAs/s1600/probout03.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="430" data-original-width="576" height="297" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-QGDu8QRGs88/WV5Twcb5ZBI/AAAAAAAAC_s/wyralUlke6IFUwD31J_lMC_3QfHWKJrYACLcBGAs/s400/probout03.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
The camera does a lap around the outside of the Ariake as footage of Maeda and his elite athlete opponent training at their respective dojos is intercut. As the UWF theme parps away in its inspirational major key, we then switch live to the Ariake itself and by jove on a hot August night with its retractable roof fully retracted it is quite a sight:</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-CYkVKDXZc3I/WV5YMRyD_8I/AAAAAAAAC_0/x6t8n1a9Vakz8tYt2wokgjulBrcgoo77wCLcBGAs/s1600/probout04.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="453" data-original-width="606" height="299" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-CYkVKDXZc3I/WV5YMRyD_8I/AAAAAAAAC_0/x6t8n1a9Vakz8tYt2wokgjulBrcgoo77wCLcBGAs/s400/probout04.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">THIS IS WHAT PEOPLE CAME TO SEE RIGHT HERE MAGGLE</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
A visibly-shaking ring announcer hands over to not Maeda, but Nobuhiko Takada, who gives a gently charismatic oration in front of a crowd mostly attired in vests and shorts. There will be no pre-show parade of fighters. Points deducted.</div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
The first match features two men I have never seen before. The first is Ri Sogi. In his video he seems like a nice and alert young lion type of dude which contrasts nicely with Katsumi Omura who frankly seems stoned. Sogi is 65kg to Omura's 60kg which seems like a lot for guys at the smaller end of things but that is the least of our concerns as OH MY LORD they are both wearing the 14-16oz gloves more commonly associated with the sport of boxing MAAAAAAAAEEEEEE-DAAAAAAAAA GET IN HERE!</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-L-b4TYpZTVo/WV5h5Rc0M4I/AAAAAAAADAA/pWv5jJ_L5wYtCFn4nseBWWpVZEFFVK89QCLcBGAs/s1600/probout05.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="418" data-original-width="588" height="282" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-L-b4TYpZTVo/WV5h5Rc0M4I/AAAAAAAADAA/pWv5jJ_L5wYtCFn4nseBWWpVZEFFVK89QCLcBGAs/s400/probout05.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">GOOD GRAVY</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
This is shoot-boxing and we learn this because it is written on the posterior of Sogi. It seems that punches, kicks, and standing grappling is all completely allowed here. But when the fight goes to ground the referee stands both men up - so there is no <i>ne waza</i> in the slightest and this is quite a disappointing discovery but we will power on.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
Also: this appears to be completely legitimate unless Omura is just the kind of unsafe asshole who drops an opponent on his head. Here is a .gif that I have taken from <a href="https://www.legitshook.com/strobogos-wrasslin-potpourri-reviews/uwf-the-professional-bout-81388">Legitshook's coverage of this event</a>. I will not take too many more.</div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-HwHoGRUWDUg/WV5jfq8EvxI/AAAAAAAADAM/et58ps23Ci4u7zYuuFrJ_zD8svHOiScYQCLcBGAs/s1600/probout01.gif" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="216" data-original-width="284" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-HwHoGRUWDUg/WV5jfq8EvxI/AAAAAAAADAM/et58ps23Ci4u7zYuuFrJ_zD8svHOiScYQCLcBGAs/s1600/probout01.gif" /></a></div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
This is a vicious ass-beating by Omura for seven minutes. Sogi hits the canvas from strikes at an average of once per minute and while I suppose this one-sided not-wrestling is still reasonably entertaining (Sogi sticks his chin out and showboats indicating that maybe he is quite stupid actually considering the beating he gets) I also happen to know that we will never see either man in UWF again so I am less bothered about extensively reporting it. After bravely/stupidly getting up for the 7th time, Sogi staggers across the ring into a knee that the referee doesn't even bother to count.</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yoHFuUb4WdI/WV5lPm_TkqI/AAAAAAAADAU/Ba6u_HSen-kYC0oRmFiEA6eLE8WqsWNCACLcBGAs/s1600/probout06.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="426" data-original-width="588" height="288" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yoHFuUb4WdI/WV5lPm_TkqI/AAAAAAAADAU/Ba6u_HSen-kYC0oRmFiEA6eLE8WqsWNCACLcBGAs/s400/probout06.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Katsumi Omura, <i>Adventures in Vaporwave </i>(Dream Catalogue, 2013)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
The next match sees much of the same fare as Makoto Ohe dominates Hideokazu Mikaku in a match that kickboxing fanatics can feel free to educate me on the intricacies of. However I feel that it can be summed up in one .gif despite going for about six minutes.</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tKfvMgqavm4/WV5mJesTv3I/AAAAAAAADAc/8aPEUjT2F9YQSoXVV2OabPoARCq-2HssACLcBGAs/s1600/probout02.gif" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="216" data-original-width="284" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tKfvMgqavm4/WV5mJesTv3I/AAAAAAAADAc/8aPEUjT2F9YQSoXVV2OabPoARCq-2HssACLcBGAs/s1600/probout02.gif" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">DOWN I GO</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
What <b>is</b> Maeda thinking here? I have no sources or historical evidence to back this up but my gut feeling is this: that in some way the booking of shoot-boxers is some kind of a shot at Satoru Sayama and his SHOOTO promotion. Sayama, now departed from the wrestling business and decrying its black-heartedness from the real-fighting arena, was now a hated enemy of Maeda. Of course, strange bouts incorporating unusual rulesets would make up a part of Maeda's RINGS promotion, so I am not suggesting there is no genuine love of other combat sports (presumably acquired from former boss Antonio Inoki). It just seems so strange and timely to be anything else. Not that Makoto Ohe cares:</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-TkoDJvUW54Y/WV5oXXW0JEI/AAAAAAAADAk/guJVCr_B0ggT_83QQSKxOg1ifvz9R-YEQCLcBGAs/s1600/probout07.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="431" data-original-width="565" height="303" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-TkoDJvUW54Y/WV5oXXW0JEI/AAAAAAAADAk/guJVCr_B0ggT_83QQSKxOg1ifvz9R-YEQCLcBGAs/s400/probout07.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">OHE, <span style="font-weight: normal;"><span lang="ja">フローラルの専門店 (Vektroid, 2011)</span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
The balance in the universe is on its way to restoration as match three is an instant rematch of Shigeo Miyato vs. Tatsuo Nakano from the previous card. The 30-minute time-limit is teased by way of an introductory graphic. The first half of the match is a lot like the first half of the first match: cagey, tense, grapple-heavy, methodical, with some oohs and aahs at the wild swinging kicks that are far between.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The second half of the match continues much as the second half of the first match did (stay with me) with an increased workrate and desperation to finish things early. But a third gear is found with about five minutes to go as Miyato boots Nakano fully to the floor and follows up with a nasty flurry of kicks that send the crowd apoplectic.</div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-SoXXyjGvvt4/WV6GQFqtl1I/AAAAAAAADA8/KUDovKhhU4oxjaBliXvQeIo-cGGQcz7WwCLcBGAs/s1600/probout03.gif" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="216" data-original-width="284" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-SoXXyjGvvt4/WV6GQFqtl1I/AAAAAAAADA8/KUDovKhhU4oxjaBliXvQeIo-cGGQcz7WwCLcBGAs/s1600/probout03.gif" /></a></div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
From there it goes fully pro-wrestling drama and it is noticeable that the crowd are far more invested in this than they were the shoots at the top of the show. Exchanges of grisly suplexes are made including the Capture Suplex of which I did not know Akira Maeda is generally credited with inventing! Things go mad as Nakano catches Miyato with a shoot headbutt (see above) that creates this A+ visual when Miyato cinches in the half-crab for the win on about 19 minutes. </div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-vG4i9fVfBA4/WV6DjPRiZGI/AAAAAAAADA0/Iksy9N7r_JAbmBXqm0J9Ul8RkZ8Mor55wCLcBGAs/s1600/probout08.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="420" data-original-width="594" height="282" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-vG4i9fVfBA4/WV6DjPRiZGI/AAAAAAAADA0/Iksy9N7r_JAbmBXqm0J9Ul8RkZ8Mor55wCLcBGAs/s400/probout08.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
This was almost like the G1 Climax version of their previous one. The crowd love little Miyato and they cheer his name in unison. Nakano slumps tearfully at this loss and refuses Miyato's consolatory gesture at first until a referee (clad in quite a stylish horizontally-striped polo shirt) rebukes Nakano, who softens, hugging the victor and raising his hand. A post-match replay shows how Miyato used a stinging liver punch to throw Nakano off a kimura attempt before doing this:</div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-rjQpApZPaZM/WV6FxhIsZfI/AAAAAAAADA4/rBFN-KrRSSsZdA-I4giVngWbM027_bnWQCLcBGAs/s1600/probout09.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="406" data-original-width="598" height="271" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-rjQpApZPaZM/WV6FxhIsZfI/AAAAAAAADA4/rBFN-KrRSSsZdA-I4giVngWbM027_bnWQCLcBGAs/s400/probout09.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
Norman Smiley and Yoji Anjo return to face each other in both men's second UWF bouts. Smiley is interviewed:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>Oh my future? As far as my future goes it is here in Japan. I hope to come back on a regular basis so I can wrestle in front of the Japanese fans. I feel that the Japanese fans are the most appreciative fans in the world and they really appreciate good wrestling. And definitely the UWF has the best wrestling in the world.</i></blockquote>
I predict you'll go far in this business Norman!<br />
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
This match does not quite click and for a great deal of the duration, while competent, is uninspired. The crowd care a lot for Anjo fighting away happily as the inexperienced and smaller man against the cerebral Smiley and I am glad their enthusiasm carried them through this. </div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-7sD9TD-pakQ/WV6NnRO_iZI/AAAAAAAADBM/nX96G097gv0AtP4aoP9m07xKDceIXZkagCLcBGAs/s1600/probout10.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="699" data-original-width="818" height="341" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-7sD9TD-pakQ/WV6NnRO_iZI/AAAAAAAADBM/nX96G097gv0AtP4aoP9m07xKDceIXZkagCLcBGAs/s400/probout10.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Norman Smiley, <i>Normal Smiling</i> (SST, 1985)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
Smiley wins after a brief period of Anjo carnage resulting in a way too cavalier gutwrench suplex. Anjo leaves his arm sticking out, Smiley grabs it, wakigatame, goodnight Anjo. As simple as that. The crowd are completely deflated at this turn of events but clap politely when Smiley celebrates his win. However the real victor is Yoji Anjo, who has mastered his Mick Jagger impersonation:</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wEHMbBYCAa8/WV6PWxc9wAI/AAAAAAAADBQ/yOI23jDFMo4tSR-fE2aBpyJnjmhhsIszACLcBGAs/s1600/probout11.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="417" data-original-width="594" height="280" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wEHMbBYCAa8/WV6PWxc9wAI/AAAAAAAADBQ/yOI23jDFMo4tSR-fE2aBpyJnjmhhsIszACLcBGAs/s400/probout11.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Eee'arr, Keef, Keef, can't do the voice...Keef."</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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------------<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
A break in the review to tell a story. After completing the previous entry, just before dusk on a balmy summer evening, a motorbike slowed on the ring road in front of my flat. The pillion rider took a brown paper parcel from inside of his leather jacket and in a smooth motion hurled it through the narrow gap of my open dining room window before motioning to the driver to speed away.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Hurriedly, I unwrapped the unmarked package. It was a manuscript written in a mixture of kanji and katakana script. With a strange mixture of disappointment and confusion, I put the tome down to begin cooking dinner.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
But I could not shake the sensation that this was a transformative and important event. Later that evening, just as the sun was disappearing behind the houses to the rear, I returned to the manuscript and painstakingly attempted to translate the lettering - <span class="short_text" id="result_box" lang="ja"><span>前田明はイングランドで戦っている - </span></span>on the front using a leading website. It says:</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<h4>
<i>AKIRA MAEDA IS FIGHTING IN ENGLAND</i></h4>
</blockquote>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
My hands began to tremble. Was the great man coming out of retirement for one last run in Revolution Pro, Insane Championship Wrestling, World of Sport, PROGRESS, or perhaps even for one more go-around with Brian Dixon's All Star Promotions? I must know more, even if it takes me all night to learn the enigmas contained within these pages.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
This hope appears to be scotched on page one. Every so often a date, all of which have long passed, will appear in bold type. These days indicating a chronological progression. Is this a diary that I have in my hands?</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Time is at a premium so I have translated and cleaned up a section of the first page headed <span class="short_text" id="result_box" lang="ja"><span>1982年1月4日 <span style="font-family: inherit;">(January 4th 1982)</span></span></span></div>
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Akira Maeda was at home in his third floor apartment in Yoyogi. The telephone that he had just bought after having a line installed rang. It was Kairi from the office. The bosses wanted to meet downtown but not at the dojo. A different place that Maeda did not know of. No name, just an address. 2pm. They did not care that it was a day off.</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
There was still time for a run around the park. Occasionally children paused, hanging limply from their mothers' palms, when they saw a Mizuno-jacketed Maeda jogging by. Some shouted <i>MA-E-DA! </i>after him. Maeda would never smile but occasionally he would raise his right fist and clench it tighter before affecting a sprint away.</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Taking the Chiyoda line from <span style="font-weight: normal;">Yoyogi-kōen to Akasaka, Maeda peered at the address scribbled down: </span><i>〒106-0032 Tokyo, Minato, Roppongi, 5−4−20. </i>Still no idea. Emerging at street level and taking a series of back roads and featureless commercial streets, Maeda discovered the building. A large empty shell undergoing renovation. Workers in plastic helmets lifting and fetching. While looking for somebody who appears to be in charge, Maeda feels a rough hand clap on his shoulder before wheeling quickly around.</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"I am sorry if I startled you Maeda-chan", laughed the man. Maeda scowled internally. <i>Not the -chan business already.</i></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"Sakaguchi-san." said Maeda wearily, bowing as little as he could get away with. "What is this place? You have brought me to a building site?"</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"One of Kanji's big business ideas", half-mocked Sakaguchi. "This will be a big American restaurant! Guitars played by famous rock stars all over the wall they say. Maybe we will invest and have some wrestling memorabilia here too." As Sakaguchi was ending his sentence a familiar face emerged from behind a half-plastered pillar. <i>Inoki-sama!</i> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"Sir...I...I do not see what this has to do with me." </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
The great man took his spot next to Sakaguchi and took over the reins. "Maeda-kun. Takano-kun and you must go away to complete your education after the next tour. Takano will go to Mexico. You will go to Europe. Please ensure that your passport is in order. And buy a smart jacket." </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Maeda did not know what to say. He knew that he should feel pleased that the next stage of his career was under way. He knew that he should feel excited that the company had showed so much faith in him. He bowed to Inoki out of habit but soon found himself speaking hurriedly. "What is in Europe? Robinson is in America. Gotch is here. Riley is dead. It is no longer great! It is false! It is silly entertainment!" After a moment of silence, his bosses laughed at Maeda's impetuousness. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Sakaguchi calmed his laughter and finally spoke. "You need to learn about yourself a little more, Maeda-kun!" The two older men laughed before walking away to inspect the kitchen area.</blockquote>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Well. This is quite a development! And it seems genuine, or at least the work of a skilled forger. I will provide updates as and when I can.</div>
<br />
--------<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-uZBgJ5UGVOo/WV6TUX2X8eI/AAAAAAAADBc/10FnfJqeQ9Ueu0PEneSwJfj5OCjokyQowCLcBGAs/s1600/probout13.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="388" data-original-width="599" height="258" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-uZBgJ5UGVOo/WV6TUX2X8eI/AAAAAAAADBc/10FnfJqeQ9Ueu0PEneSwJfj5OCjokyQowCLcBGAs/s400/probout13.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Nobuhiko Takada and Kazuo Yamazaki battle in the clash between two dudes already beaten by Akira Maeda. Takada delivers a pre-match interview in a vest that perhaps showing an early sartorial influence on WWF star Tugboat:</div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kyoKbLiTJSw/WV6YwVoL7NI/AAAAAAAADB0/wouv0QCX2tgwwqLoPmo7b0kP1ZCz5N8bgCLcBGAs/s1600/probout15.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="420" data-original-width="597" height="281" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kyoKbLiTJSw/WV6YwVoL7NI/AAAAAAAADB0/wouv0QCX2tgwwqLoPmo7b0kP1ZCz5N8bgCLcBGAs/s400/probout15.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
This is a really good match. Maybe the best UWF bout to date and I think if you are sufficiently deep in this review then you should probably look this up. The opening salvos have plenty of intensity to them, starting at higher lick than other matches have done.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
It's also a match that has a clear fake-wrestling style story to it and that story is that Takada is a bit of a dick. He boots Yamazaki on the floor after referee-ordained break and he does this clearly rough piece of business which I think loads of companies should steal right now:</div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-hc494WeYwC8/WV6iVypX-iI/AAAAAAAADCI/PDi3Md22OiYf3TuQbkeHsiJol6c46JmXQCLcBGAs/s1600/probout05.gif" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="216" data-original-width="284" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-hc494WeYwC8/WV6iVypX-iI/AAAAAAAADCI/PDi3Md22OiYf3TuQbkeHsiJol6c46JmXQCLcBGAs/s1600/probout05.gif" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">anyone who has ever had a knee issue is wincing now</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Yamazaki rolls out of the ring in agony, selling hard. He gets back in and Takada is just frigging MERCILESS, booting the ever-loving life out of Yamazaki's leg. It is so great. Yamazaki just sells and screams and alters his stance when approaching a clinch to favour his bad leg but Takada is just like naaaah not fooling me like THAT mate and keeps on after it.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The place comes unglued late in the piece when Yamazaki, straight after being Dragon Suplexed, throws a desperation high kick that detonates on Takada's temple for a close count:</div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-dHhwmV1Yh1E/WV6jq405cnI/AAAAAAAADCQ/dSmX7MxAlDAxofo8oX9ozjs2proBSnQfQCLcBGAs/s1600/probout16.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="387" data-original-width="600" height="257" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-dHhwmV1Yh1E/WV6jq405cnI/AAAAAAAADCQ/dSmX7MxAlDAxofo8oX9ozjs2proBSnQfQCLcBGAs/s400/probout16.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The marbles are rolling around in Takada's head but he carries on purely on instinct, eating a messy wheel kick and taking another brief count. Yamazaki goes steaming in and throws a great German Suplex for a two count (okay...) and then when Takada gets up, Yamazaki goes right foot -> left temple followed by left foot -> right temple. Takada collapses in a heap and Yamazaki covers for a traditional 3-count which is bloody confusing but also a perfect end to a great match.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
I think just on a character/wrestler basis these two are my favourite UWFers so far. Plenty of time to change and everyone is still in with a chance provided they don't shoot-box. To celebrate this high-calibre affair, let's have a bonus image which I could not narrate around:</div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4mTErqUFl_4/WV6l9dmM1LI/AAAAAAAADCU/m9QNDtlJPDgYjoU7yFGZnrfM1HMDMhDcACLcBGAs/s1600/probout17.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="402" data-original-width="592" height="271" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4mTErqUFl_4/WV6l9dmM1LI/AAAAAAAADCU/m9QNDtlJPDgYjoU7yFGZnrfM1HMDMhDcACLcBGAs/s400/probout17.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
Of course, Yamazaki understandably looks delighted to have won:<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-mkyz5a5mazU/WV6UMR1Y4II/AAAAAAAADBk/3AMPoF4zXdc8Di3scVfAPmP4gWtzq6-FQCLcBGAs/s1600/probout14.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="424" data-original-width="584" height="290" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-mkyz5a5mazU/WV6UMR1Y4II/AAAAAAAADBk/3AMPoF4zXdc8Di3scVfAPmP4gWtzq6-FQCLcBGAs/s400/probout14.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Yamazaki, <i>Canine Tricycle Bereavement </i>(Matador, 1992)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
In the semi-main event we have something more akin to a WWE-style piss-break match as shoot-boxing pioneer Cesar Takeshi knocks Paryhap Premchai out in a complete mismatch. Takeshi deflects Premchai's high kicks with his glove and then throws a Bas Rutten-approved liver kick just after the 2 min mark that sends Premchai down in stages:</div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-b1PLrfOlucE/WV6WUAOb6dI/AAAAAAAADBo/Q6R9Dlsg2B4F46S2JOtPniNN9nJrtM1NQCLcBGAs/s1600/probout4.gif" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="216" data-original-width="284" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-b1PLrfOlucE/WV6WUAOb6dI/AAAAAAAADBo/Q6R9Dlsg2B4F46S2JOtPniNN9nJrtM1NQCLcBGAs/s1600/probout4.gif" /></a></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The main event then, is between High Priest of the Radical Orthodox Church of UWF Akira Maeda and his skilled guest - the fabled Dutch karate wizard and savate sorcerer Gerard Gordeau. Here he is in sharp profile at the beginning of disc 2 of this visual feast:</div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xPDgDnxaxuc/WV6SWvETajI/AAAAAAAADBU/ORSQlyOX0LQmk-eDsoc5FJjwwu-47fAcwCLcBGAs/s1600/probout12.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="458" data-original-width="447" height="400" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xPDgDnxaxuc/WV6SWvETajI/AAAAAAAADBU/ORSQlyOX0LQmk-eDsoc5FJjwwu-47fAcwCLcBGAs/s400/probout12.jpeg" width="390" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">perhaps considering the Gor-dos and Gor-deaunts</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
An event featuring Dhr. Gordeau that would take place in the future (from the perspective of 1988) but was written about in the past (from the perspective of now) by <a href="http://tkscissors.blogspot.co.uk/">TK Scissors</a> does not inspire the greatest of hope for this bout.</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-size: small;"><i><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Our
first three-minute round (of a scheduled five) is unremarkable enough,
especially if you are me and know the absolute least anyone who has
watched as much fighting as I have can know about kickboxing (I know nothing).
But the second falls apart completely and unmistakably: after a rope
break in the corner in which Gordeau seems determined to get some shit
in as the referee works to separate them, Gordeau walks lazily back to
his corner and, en route, has a breezy conversation with his coach, I
guess? The referee calls "Gordeau! Gordeau!" to get his attention, but he doesn't really have it. Satake throws a kick to the legs when Gordeau is not super duper
ready for it (I still don't understand why that might be), and, with
his cornerman now up on the apron (I have no idea), Gordeau loses it and
starts unloading on Satake with the very sort of closed fists to the
face I do not need to remind you are prohibited in this lordly realm of
RINGS. Chris Dolman hops up in a neutral corner, a young Japanese I am
unable to identify beyond that cursory description utterly flies across
the ring to intercept, and that is very, very much a DQ finish at 2:13
of the second round. Satake is bloodied, angry, and eager to fight on,
but that's not about to happen. Gordeau attempts some late-breaking
sportsmanship, apologetically raising Satake's hand, but on the whole
this Gordeau still worries me kind of a lot, and it's not getting
better.</span></i></span> <span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://tkscissors.blogspot.co.uk/2016/11/rings-12592-mega-battle-kaiten.html">http://tkscissors.blogspot.co.uk/2016/11/rings-12592-mega-battle-kaiten.html </a></span></blockquote>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
It also does not augur well that while Gordeau is barefoot and in boxing gloves, Akira Maeda is in his classic black trunks and UWF-branded boots. But Gordeau was at least in Maeda's graces sufficiently to be invited back at a later date so let us not dismiss this one out of hand. Gordeau speaks in the phlegmatic way many Dutch speak the English language. Let us capture his words:</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>I want to do it in the first round but he's a strong person. I want to do it in the first round but I've seen him training, it will be a difficult fight. [unintelligible] I want to beat Maeda and become #1 of Japan.</i></blockquote>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Fair enough Gerard. But what are these 'rounds' of which you speak? Oh dammit.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Round one is mostly pulled strikes thrown, imitating the feeling-out process of prizefights (I put money on Conor vs. Floyd having an early feel similar to this. That is right, betting on abstract emotions, the new neknomination). It is largely insipid until Maeda clumsily shoots low. Gordeau, even in dumb boxing gloves, blocks Maeda's advance before stiffing him on the floor in a way that makes Maeda's UWF-shirted cornermen rage.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Round 2 is heralded by a girl bearing a placard with 'Round 2' written on it, perhaps defeating my UWF as sexless theory up-post. Maeda keeps up his low shooting idea, GG fends off with fists. Even though Gordeau is pulling every shot his mastery of throwing strikes is apparent, particularly next to the slightly clumsy Maeda. Gordeau barrels forward with knees that look a little snappier and less friendly than his fists. Under pressure, Maeda makes the first bit of real magic happen, scooping Gordeau for a lovely Shinsuke Nakamura-style reverse powerslam:</div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-A5UduZEokE0/WV6qnAZYNtI/AAAAAAAADCg/SxCEPAnpKxoii4Tq-Rhs3FxpMxT1uOn1QCLcBGAs/s1600/probout18.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="421" data-original-width="599" height="280" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-A5UduZEokE0/WV6qnAZYNtI/AAAAAAAADCg/SxCEPAnpKxoii4Tq-Rhs3FxpMxT1uOn1QCLcBGAs/s400/probout18.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">KING OF SHOOT STYLE</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
When both men recover, Gordeau hits a kick from a prone position and dives in for a boxing gloved choke. What it lacked in finesse it made up for in believability and to a certain extent humour. The round ends wildly: first Gordeau pastes Maeda up against the ropes to the point where he looks beaten, only for Maeda to hit a desperate <i>ogoshi </i>into a juji-gatame. Gordeau looks wild-eyed but is saved by the bell. This is good!</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Round three begins with precisely the same sequence from a barrage of rough Gordeau knees to a Maeda <i>ogoshi</i> though this time Gordeau turns hard and ends up in the mount position but fortunately for Maeda, in a rope break. After a solid minute against the ropes eating knees and fists, Maeda hits the double leg takedown (<i>morote gari</i>) and tries desperately to secure the kimura. Though it fails, he tries the same thing again after being stood up a few seconds later. Toward the end of the round Gordeau cracks Maeda with a kick to the face. The referee smartly intervenes at this juncture, sensing Gordeau might be straining at the leash. Maeda takes a count on one knee. As he recovers his breath, Gordeau taunts him from a neutral corner. The round ends.</div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-P424tCqbCGA/WV6uK8aA85I/AAAAAAAADCo/TU0D8v26MhAxq3CnH4TAmmHmC2mpSGQewCLcBGAs/s1600/probout19.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="410" data-original-width="594" height="275" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-P424tCqbCGA/WV6uK8aA85I/AAAAAAAADCo/TU0D8v26MhAxq3CnH4TAmmHmC2mpSGQewCLcBGAs/s400/probout19.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">BONA FIDE HUSTLER MAKIN MY WAY</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Round four sees Gordeau come straight out with a kick that Maeda catches and turns into a smart achilles hold. Gordeau makes the ropes, stands, throws the same kick, which Maeda catches and turns into yet another smart achilles hold/ankle lock, and there's the finish! Gordeau's boxing gloves pounds the mat as if to say uncle and yet again against all odds Akira Maeda has established the supremacy of pro-wrestling over another form of combat sport! And what a surprisingly good match that was too!</div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-5aiVQ1mY3uA/WV6vznBmsjI/AAAAAAAADCs/yq6cuIBnKX06kuOcSLLjitr0NRv1rLfXQCLcBGAs/s1600/probout20.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="434" data-original-width="579" height="298" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-5aiVQ1mY3uA/WV6vznBmsjI/AAAAAAAADCs/yq6cuIBnKX06kuOcSLLjitr0NRv1rLfXQCLcBGAs/s400/probout20.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Akira Maeda, <i>The Death of Kwik Kick Lee </i>(Sony Japan, 2017)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
That's three good shows out of three for the new UWF. What could derail this freight train of success? Please join me for future editions to find out.</div>
<br />
<b>NEXT TIME</b>: Akira Maeda and Kazuo Yamazaki meet again!D. Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14629124673589292567noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6812605115270563531.post-76699450004760079502017-07-05T08:20:00.000-07:002017-07-25T03:24:34.736-07:00UWF 11/6/88 - STARTING OVER 2ND (02/31)<b>UWF Starting Over 2nd</b><br />
Nakajima Sports Centre, Sapporo<br />
11th June 1988<br />
att. 5200<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Before we kick-off allow me to alert you to the excellent <a href="https://hybridshoot.com/">Hybrid Shoot</a> blog that is covering the birth and expansion of the deeply-influential proto-MMA company Pancrase. Lee & Jonathan have a nice back & forth dynamic - a kind of dialectic if you will! - already and I particularly like the emerging themes of eroticism that much wrestling reportage shies away from.</div>
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<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-mMuDP-yd6KA/WVuUSob1ldI/AAAAAAAAC8E/DO7-pisu-ZQvA0Lv6BYcpKnYSl60lrWDACLcBGAs/s1600/sover01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="423" data-original-width="603" height="280" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-mMuDP-yd6KA/WVuUSob1ldI/AAAAAAAAC8E/DO7-pisu-ZQvA0Lv6BYcpKnYSl60lrWDACLcBGAs/s400/sover01.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
After the blackness representing Maeda's soul dying in New Japan and the UWF logo that birthed it anew we see an aeroplane...and...hang on a second! As a stray comment I remarked the the last show opening could be a reference to the 1983 Chris Marker classic <i>Sans Soleil. </i>It was meant as a slightly swotty joke. HOWEVER...is this opening a reference to the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6anMLFwHFqs">1962 Chris Marker classic <i>La Jetée</i></a> which details a transformative event that occurs at an airport such as the one that is happening to the world of professional wrestling and mixed martial arts right here on our screens? Is UWF a lengthy exercise in honour of this reclusive director? This I feel is unmistakable.</div>
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-k9PazKRd0Sc/WVyy4DMiO1I/AAAAAAAAC84/Kn79GOQ_kMYFwuVNr2OO-X1NO8cx83hSACLcBGAs/s1600/plane-dishevelled.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="339" data-original-width="644" height="210" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-k9PazKRd0Sc/WVyy4DMiO1I/AAAAAAAAC84/Kn79GOQ_kMYFwuVNr2OO-X1NO8cx83hSACLcBGAs/s400/plane-dishevelled.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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But what could this visual mean for we shoot-style fans? Never let it be said that Maeda-san does not like a simple-to-understand metaphor. I think he is a student of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sergei_Eisenstein">Eisenstein</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lev_Kuleshov">Kuleshov</a> as much as he is one of Gotch and Coage.
Following the decorous UWF logo we see the aeroplane taking off to represent not only the fact that this Tokyo-based company
are visiting the northern island of Hokkaido but also to strongly
indicate that UWF are at the beginning of their journey and are also
increasing their standing in the world of wrestling that they insist is
real until they are blue in the face. </div>
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The image of the aeroplane fades and inset images of the six fighters (five of whom look familiar, with one stranger) of tonight's show appear in a central box as if each one is the cover art for their very own seminal post-punk record:</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-awM4QDQTvO8/WVuXHZp5LDI/AAAAAAAAC8Y/2h1wJzVNJtcZMZHRCF9_Se9kMeLGOSuAQCLcBGAs/s1600/sover03.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="370" data-original-width="483" height="243" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-awM4QDQTvO8/WVuXHZp5LDI/AAAAAAAAC8Y/2h1wJzVNJtcZMZHRCF9_Se9kMeLGOSuAQCLcBGAs/s320/sover03.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Yamazaki, <i>Faded Dreams</i> (1981, Factory)</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-mbkQo52XZrE/WVuXHUhkaCI/AAAAAAAAC8U/G1iiqssG4T4rMD6XKKWjNOPQzZB10SJgQCEwYBhgL/s1600/sover02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="367" data-original-width="469" height="250" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-mbkQo52XZrE/WVuXHUhkaCI/AAAAAAAAC8U/G1iiqssG4T4rMD6XKKWjNOPQzZB10SJgQCEwYBhgL/s320/sover02.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nakano, <i>Eternal Midcard </i>(ZTT, 1983)</td></tr>
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The now-customary and always anticipated parade of fighters takes place. There are seven UWF-shirted athletes in total meaning that one of these premier athletes will be sitting out despite being carted all the way to Sapporo. It is determined that Yoji Anjo is to receive this break from pain. I hope he was paid.</div>
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Maeda cuts a solemn promo thanking the crowd for coming before bowing deeply and just think how differently things might have turned out for XPW if <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rob_Zicari">Rob Black</a> had solemnly-attired for an initial show of respect before making either his disgusting pornography or disgusting wrestling.</div>
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-bNgcUNla3Q4/WVy2GpaaMtI/AAAAAAAAC9E/kjSnjQGGyYgbcX36HthuobInELRs9lC3QCEwYBhgL/s1600/sover04.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="446" data-original-width="607" height="293" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-bNgcUNla3Q4/WVy2GpaaMtI/AAAAAAAAC9E/kjSnjQGGyYgbcX36HthuobInELRs9lC3QCEwYBhgL/s400/sover04.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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A healthy crowd is assembled, announced at - and preserved forever as - 5200 paid. An <a href="https://twitter.com/pudtaine/status/882286758192435203">illuminating debate occurred on Twitter</a> recently about the status of UWF: were they genuinely popular outside of a certain hip Tokyo bubble and critical cognoscenti? I am not equipped to answer this possessing neither the historical facts (read: subscription to Wrestling Observer) nor the barometers against which popular success can be defined. Kick Submission Suplex wishes to consider aesthetics first. Think of me, please, as the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cleanth_Brooks">Cleanth Brooks</a> of shoot-stylism, except for the bits when I make references to other things.</div>
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<b>Tatsuo Nakano</b>, a victor on the first show, opens tonight's card against <b>Shigeo Miyato</b>, who technically drew his exhibition bout but actually got folded like laundry by Nobuhiko Takada for ten glorious minutes. Miyato gives a brief pensive interview into a very stylish microphone:</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-jmSWiHSbh-I/WVy4Oc0P_-I/AAAAAAAAC9M/tiV7Jj128zo9cn4x6H55TIaUOx-F1xahwCLcBGAs/s1600/sover05.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="438" data-original-width="552" height="316" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-jmSWiHSbh-I/WVy4Oc0P_-I/AAAAAAAAC9M/tiV7Jj128zo9cn4x6H55TIaUOx-F1xahwCLcBGAs/s400/sover05.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">IF YOU'RE NOT DOWN WITH THAT I GOT FOUR KANJI SYMBOLS FOR YA</td></tr>
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Miyato exudes that spiritedness that seems to pass through all New Japan
Young Lions: irrepressible, whether looking for kicks or submissions (or suplexes). He is
beloved of the half-crab but also he is game for any other kind of hold
or move he can do which seems to be a fair but not comprehensive amount. The size differential is not as pronounced for Miyato as it was against Takada, although one cannot help but notice that Nakano is much thicker of torso, a man perennially on the point of his physique all falling apart but never quite doing so. </div>
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-C-vHz-xY-mg/WVy9UAVPeBI/AAAAAAAAC9Y/bMPFNb5kA9U6C2JjNTpWBu6BEvWBoasQQCLcBGAs/s1600/sover06.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="449" data-original-width="606" height="296" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-C-vHz-xY-mg/WVy9UAVPeBI/AAAAAAAAC9Y/bMPFNb5kA9U6C2JjNTpWBu6BEvWBoasQQCLcBGAs/s400/sover06.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Nakano is a little more methodical for the first half of this encounter.
He loiters on the backfoot, looking for the counter, waiting for the
misplaced kick that never comes. Nakano attempts what I think may be UWF 2's first 'low single'. Frequently the pair become entangled on
the floor, grinding and grunting and searching for position, but no dominance can be established by either man. </div>
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The second half sees much more in the way of full-blooded action. The crowd rise along with the intensity. Miyato's kicks seem more energised: less <i>pew-pew!</i> and more <i>sting-sting!</i> For the second show running Nakano manages to dump his opponent out of the ring, this time with a suplex whose momentum sees both men briefly meet the concrete.</div>
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1DoXJ1_QdWI/WVy_Ne3NOAI/AAAAAAAAC9k/7Q5i_wvyJOsVS_MD2FlhWIWYw8LzsDS0gCLcBGAs/s1600/sover08.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="417" data-original-width="594" height="280" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1DoXJ1_QdWI/WVy_Ne3NOAI/AAAAAAAAC9k/7Q5i_wvyJOsVS_MD2FlhWIWYw8LzsDS0gCLcBGAs/s400/sover08.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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And while the first show seemed kick-heavy when it came to strikes, Nakano lets a bunch of wild open-palm shots go that are brutal and thrilling. Nakano also does really fun and quite dirty stuff like booting a man when he is struggling to defend in the corner like this: </div>
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-NcUsJ5fV058/WVy9UAfoQaI/AAAAAAAAC9c/ccZ2XhSvESkybSdWl8SdX1t29iFC4yJiACLcBGAs/s1600/sover07.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="420" data-original-width="610" height="275" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-NcUsJ5fV058/WVy9UAfoQaI/AAAAAAAAC9c/ccZ2XhSvESkybSdWl8SdX1t29iFC4yJiACLcBGAs/s400/sover07.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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The bell rings at 30:00 with neither man having truly established the upper hand. A draw is announced. If you were awarding the match on points there'd be a struggle to decisively call the match as both men took counts, both threw nice suplexes that the referee began to count pinfalls for (?????????), and both were trapped in submissions necessitating agonising dramatic rope breaks. If I had to select? Miyato. Much busier.</div>
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The crowd clap strongly but not wildly at this result. Nakano and Miyato both have their hands raised and then both shake hands and embrace before Nakano sinks to his knees to 'sell' tiredness. Nakano gestures to say either one 'one more minute and I'd have had you' (unlikely) or 'let's do this one more time' (likely).</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-PjEcqmJZw-I/WVzALUTOE1I/AAAAAAAAC9o/bZnLJ0hn37oYAnXSsl7HTKoFV51pTaclQCLcBGAs/s1600/sover09.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="408" data-original-width="671" height="242" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-PjEcqmJZw-I/WVzALUTOE1I/AAAAAAAAC9o/bZnLJ0hn37oYAnXSsl7HTKoFV51pTaclQCLcBGAs/s400/sover09.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">FIGHT FOREVER*! <br />
(*A LIMITED AMOUNT OF TIMES)</td></tr>
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A thirty minute draw to open the show is quite something, isn't it? Is this part of our schooling? Part of our training in expecting the unexpected and taking nothing for granted? Or is this because there are still only three bouts on this card and the concept of pro-wrestling offering some kind of measured 'value for money' is overruling the 'true sport' aesthetic? Let us consider the opposite end of the spectrum briefly via the first event reviewed by <a href="https://hybridshoot.com/2017/07/04/pancrase-1-yes-we-are-hybrid-wrestlers-9211993/#more-36">Hybrid Shoot</a>:</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>Fans were used to shootstyle wrestling matches, bouts designed to look
real but ultimately just more realistic works, last 30 minutes with
fighters struggling valiantly to escape submission holds and surviving
knockdown after knockdown. But when the competition was legitimate
things looked a little different. The five matches lasted just a little
more 13 minutes—total.</i></blockquote>
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It is quite hilarious to consider just how wrong Maeda & co. have got it if what they are doing is retraining their audience going by the idea that "this is real and therefore 30 minutes might not be enough to separate them!" But of course there are famously long real shoot fights - Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Royce Gracie going 90 minutes as the most famous example. But UFC has taught us that 25 minutes is brutal enough and usually finishes with one or both competitors looking like they have dived head-first through a meat grinder. Maeda's later promotion RINGS, as explained so patiently by TK Scissors and Dave Meltzer, realised the march Pancrase had stolen on them by disregarding how long fans want a real scrap to take and just giving you a real scrap however long it takes. Other companies changed up their enterprise. But ultimately, this UWF style is emergent. It is completely imperfect and <i>sui generis</i>, which is why we (I) love it.</div>
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Match two pits the sharp-kicking <b>Kazuo Yamazaki</b> against UWF debutant <b>Norman Smiley</b>. Just the other week I had double cause to think about Smiley: The first was as I was on a slow train to London passing through the town of Northampton and was trying, in my idle daydream, to think who - aside from Alan Moore - was a famous Northamptonian. And such is my wrestling-addled brain all I could come up with was Norman Smiley (whose mother sensibly emigrated to Miami in Norman's youth).</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Idsc1ekJadE/WVzNjUZMJdI/AAAAAAAAC90/YiiMTKW4eJ0KTXSQK62cwiaD0aQpUn22wCLcBGAs/s1600/northamptonwow.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="225" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Idsc1ekJadE/WVzNjUZMJdI/AAAAAAAAC90/YiiMTKW4eJ0KTXSQK62cwiaD0aQpUn22wCLcBGAs/s400/northamptonwow.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">NORTHAMPTON: why leave?</td></tr>
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The second was an out-of-nowhere horror-struck reminiscence of Terry Funk vs. 'Screaming' Norman Smiley in a dreadful hardcore match on WCW Spring Stampede 2000 which had 14 matches and <i>they all completely sucked</i> (iirc all the titles were vacant). The gimmick Vince Russo had Smiley working on that sultry Chicago evening was a man scared to take part in hardcore contests where a man might be fake hit with a can of Diet Coke or a laptop. And yet here on this hot night in Sapporo we see quite manifestly that Smiley - yet to be the CMLL Heavyweight Champion for seven months, yet to be a respected regular trainer at WWE's Performance Centre - is more than delighted (he is skilled enough as an actor to convey this with his face and enthusiastic manner rather than resorting to the, ahem, 'Big Wiggle') to take on Yamazaki and his thunderous shoot kicks. How the years and to some extent poor character-writing change us. </div>
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Smiley, with no trace of any British accent, gets some camera time:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>My name is Norman Smiley. I'm known as Black Magic. I come from the United States of America in the state of Florida. I'm 245lbs and 6'2". I've been wrestling professionally now for 5 years. The UWF asked me to come here, I've been training with the Malenko gym in America, with Joe Malenko and the father Larry Malenko. Also trained a little bit with Karl Gotch. I'm here tonight to fight Yamazaki and I'm going to try my best. I'm in good condition, I'm in good shape, and I think I can do very well tonight.</i></blockquote>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-c_e4iQoVF6E/WVzQuM8c6DI/AAAAAAAAC98/aNYk4NIbvzMEy0S9OyKbSdnVl9VcM80FQCLcBGAs/s1600/sover10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="395" data-original-width="609" height="258" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-c_e4iQoVF6E/WVzQuM8c6DI/AAAAAAAAC98/aNYk4NIbvzMEy0S9OyKbSdnVl9VcM80FQCLcBGAs/s400/sover10.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">GOOD SHAPE: CONFIRMED</td></tr>
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Yamazaki speaks briefly in a backstage area in the past whilst through the magic of editing he enters the ring in the present. Both men are introduced. Smiley receives polite applause, Yamazaki gets something louder.</div>
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-o8zZRrRGggw/WVzRnCeaPEI/AAAAAAAAC-A/ZHK3EivrhAg6n1CFG1g43wB38d8AZ4w6ACLcBGAs/s1600/sover11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="369" data-original-width="601" height="245" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-o8zZRrRGggw/WVzRnCeaPEI/AAAAAAAAC-A/ZHK3EivrhAg6n1CFG1g43wB38d8AZ4w6ACLcBGAs/s400/sover11.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Everything clicks nicely here. There's a sensible dramatic build and some pro-wrestling style callbacks and some long-form selling, but of the five UWF bouts so far this perhaps feels like the one closest to a shoot (though still a way off). Smiley looks to grapple, which he does gracefully and cleanly with silky transitions off catching Yamazaki's whipping kicks: one time he will whip the standing leg from underneath Yamazaki with his own leg, the second time he will perform a Dragon Screw (that Yamazaki rolls through into a predicament of his own), and another time he will attempt something gnarled and Volk Han-ish by way of a leg entanglement. Smiley does throw strikes but only at close range and with license to, catching Yamazaki defenceless in a corner and gut-punching him repeatedly. Minutes later Yamazaki is still coughing from the blow.</div>
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Yamazaki does have some grappling in him but the first few minutes gently impart that generic techniques will not work on the well-trained Smiley. I'm not quite sure what you'd call this thing that Yamazaki is doing with a sort of kimura-cum-facelock thing he applies at the halfway point but it sure makes Smiley panic.</div>
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-d27UMkKMcks/WVzZpN3nc3I/AAAAAAAAC-c/sxXSE1HUVpgzmDiZZ6rBvDod6CktBGmmwCLcBGAs/s1600/sover12.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="448" data-original-width="591" height="302" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-d27UMkKMcks/WVzZpN3nc3I/AAAAAAAAC-c/sxXSE1HUVpgzmDiZZ6rBvDod6CktBGmmwCLcBGAs/s400/sover12.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Some of what I guess is the pre-planned stuff works well: a reversal of a half-crab into a half-crab by Smiley is met with cheers. If the plan behind this match was to keep the talented Yamazaki looking strong by having him beat a competent and impressive foreigner then this was a job done well.</div>
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For a match that was mostly cagey and even, the ending around the quarter-hour mark is swift and decisive. Here it is in four images:</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VKGrdSz3MA4/WVzXXx2YhJI/AAAAAAAAC-U/PZVU3CvG_20HYVP5Cbf3ydRXfCxsN6K4gCLcBGAs/s1600/sover13.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="419" data-original-width="602" height="277" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VKGrdSz3MA4/WVzXXx2YhJI/AAAAAAAAC-U/PZVU3CvG_20HYVP5Cbf3ydRXfCxsN6K4gCLcBGAs/s400/sover13.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">WINCE-INDUCING MIDDLE KICK...</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-O3E6yWRZoGw/WVzXXze47eI/AAAAAAAAC-Q/rEJQ9mOcOoAVshonDO2NYGlLm95vAxhVwCLcBGAs/s1600/sover14.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="420" data-original-width="606" height="276" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-O3E6yWRZoGw/WVzXXze47eI/AAAAAAAAC-Q/rEJQ9mOcOoAVshonDO2NYGlLm95vAxhVwCLcBGAs/s400/sover14.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">...HARAI GOSHI...</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-MHnrCsI2MaI/WVzXX7-75xI/AAAAAAAAC-M/rFxSRHT8D0QAt-oiBp_B4_bBigq2mxQCACLcBGAs/s1600/sover15.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="409" data-original-width="605" height="270" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-MHnrCsI2MaI/WVzXX7-75xI/AAAAAAAAC-M/rFxSRHT8D0QAt-oiBp_B4_bBigq2mxQCACLcBGAs/s400/sover15.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">...KESA GATAME...</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-krWm29Scpx0/WVzXYbetheI/AAAAAAAAC-Y/jv6hwE9GSeIzBc7V8977GYiYnq-bvNhfQCLcBGAs/s1600/sover16.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="421" data-original-width="612" height="275" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-krWm29Scpx0/WVzXYbetheI/AAAAAAAAC-Y/jv6hwE9GSeIzBc7V8977GYiYnq-bvNhfQCLcBGAs/s400/sover16.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">...WAKI GATAME.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
A stray thought between bouts: what did UWF workers do for money between shows?
Regular-style workers do long tours to scrape together bread for their
families. These guys, presumably to maintain the illusion of reality,
worked once a month. Did you live in Tokyo in 1988 and see Shigeo Miyato
working behind a bar? Please, answer below.</div>
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Our main event features - who else - President, Owner, CEO, and Chairman of the Board <b>Akira Maeda</b>. I've been watching some of Maeda's matches from his UK excursion and am beginning to think that this whole era combined with such a mighty personality could be a really great setting for a David Peace-style novel of grinding interior monologue clashing against the spirit of the age; Maeda, in his early 20s, sent to sad and colourless places like Hemel Hempstead, Croydon, Bolton, and Skegness, places suffering from the aftermath of Callahan and the early carnage of Thatcherism, to work his fundamentally-sound and real technique-informed method against unfit carnival-style cheeseballs such as Lucky Gordon, Ed Wensor, and Banger Walsh while football scores flicked up on the screen, obscuring his <i>waza</i>. Lonely nights trying to find food that has flavour or nutritional value. Don't tell me it doesn't have legs.</div>
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That Maeda was forced to masquerade as the brother of Sammy Lee aka Tiger Mask aka I-am-going-to-go-cement-on-you-and-ruin-the-original-UWF is such a delicious turn of events.</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-J_rrZk36a3I/WVzoce62ZyI/AAAAAAAAC-o/2zg4FADionEshR8C7_WW9yg86y-oWzdfACLcBGAs/s1600/kwikkick.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="360" data-original-width="480" height="300" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-J_rrZk36a3I/WVzoce62ZyI/AAAAAAAAC-o/2zg4FADionEshR8C7_WW9yg86y-oWzdfACLcBGAs/s400/kwikkick.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I MEAN I AM FROM OSAKA FFS</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Tonight King Maeda will square off against the gently noble <b>Nobuhiko Takada</b> in a match that took place a mere five times in the original UWF with Maeda winning on every single occasion. Takada's star evidently rose in the brief return to New Japan, holding the IWGP Tag Team Championship alongside Maeda after a run as IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champion, perhaps accounting for the healthy crowd in attendance who all seem to believe that every time Takada sniffs an opening he has a chance of victory. Which bodes well.</div>
<br />
Bren Patrick of the <a href="http://americanpuro.blogspot.co.uk/">American Puro</a> blog covered this match in May, writing:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>The striking in this match is no joke, the takedowns and suplexes
awesome, and mixed into the groundwork are some really neat moments.
After a couple of love taps to warm up the fans, Takada goes in for a
takedown and Maeda catches him with an "it's all in the reflexes" kick
before taking him to school with the educated feet. Maeda's takedowns
and counters are almost self-regulating, and he's able to slip out of a
lot of Takada's submission attempts on the canvas. When Takada looks
like he's in control, Maeda slaps on the cross armbreaker early on and
Takada freaks his way to the ropes and retreats to the corner, only for
Maeda to follow the trail of blood and get back in the hunt.</i><a href="http://americanpuro.blogspot.co.uk/2017/05/nobuhiko-takada-vs-akira-maeda-uwf-61188.html"> http://americanpuro.blogspot.co.uk/2017/05/nobuhiko-takada-vs-akira-maeda-uwf-61188.html</a> </blockquote>
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Which is to say, I think, that for long stretches Maeda bosses this one like the actual boss that he is. There is little in the way of the come-from-behind babyface routine of the first night, or indeed much of his RINGS run. Up until a moment of cavalier complacency and arrogance, it is mostly Maeda with tantalising spurts of Takada. The brief opening offered by Maeda does at least lead Takada to wreak serious havoc on Maeda's left leg, evening the contest along the way as Maeda staggers about in pain.</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ba3UeuehqPY/WVz72uPa7wI/AAAAAAAAC-0/JEx4ZGjATJceIPT2y9Nv0XdB5WjYBdLmACLcBGAs/s1600/sover17.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="449" data-original-width="605" height="296" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ba3UeuehqPY/WVz72uPa7wI/AAAAAAAAC-0/JEx4ZGjATJceIPT2y9Nv0XdB5WjYBdLmACLcBGAs/s400/sover17.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Takada attacking Maeda's leg</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
Whilst there's a lot of stiff striking and subtlety in the grappling, this match feels far closer to the emotional and dramatic content of the kinds of 'strong-style' matches of their recently-departed New Japan rather than being too strongly-based in any known fighting reality. Which, I think, is the right idea, given that the crowd have seen technical miniatures all evening and what they need to send them into meltdown is two stars crashing into each other. It works.</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ZKw5y-IJMlU/WVz8PcRYwYI/AAAAAAAAC-4/3BLg4ZX027UhrU3orATDuKa4kgr3UHGHACLcBGAs/s1600/sover18.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="423" data-original-width="595" height="283" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ZKw5y-IJMlU/WVz8PcRYwYI/AAAAAAAAC-4/3BLg4ZX027UhrU3orATDuKa4kgr3UHGHACLcBGAs/s400/sover18.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Takada on the charge!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
If anyone out there is clear on the rules here could they make themselves known? I am sure that it is knockout or submission only but during this match there are three clearly-attempted and -counted pinfalls, two of which are by Maeda. These attempted falls only ever seem to come after bridging suplexes of some description. Is the referee counting to ten for a knockdown? Very rarely does he make it past one.</div>
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Takada makes people believe with a babyface-like display of diehard fighting spirit ahead of a final section that could have come out of New Japan 2017: firstly Takada hits a gorgeous Dragon Suplex...</div>
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-mas3nLl51A8/WVz-d3Tt1KI/AAAAAAAAC_A/Qa9o1kl2AfI5MH_kFpNADSXh8SN79bQUgCLcBGAs/s1600/sover19.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="413" data-original-width="603" height="273" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-mas3nLl51A8/WVz-d3Tt1KI/AAAAAAAAC_A/Qa9o1kl2AfI5MH_kFpNADSXh8SN79bQUgCLcBGAs/s400/sover19.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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...but Maeda powers up and gets Takada up for a German all of his own...<br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YrHxarVvzwM/WVz-d9gSyGI/AAAAAAAAC_E/rYb2TaSfoD4EvYQRGR3pcKkw6FnlID5UwCLcBGAs/s1600/sover20.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="417" data-original-width="615" height="270" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YrHxarVvzwM/WVz-d9gSyGI/AAAAAAAAC_E/rYb2TaSfoD4EvYQRGR3pcKkw6FnlID5UwCLcBGAs/s400/sover20.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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...and though he fails to get the pin, he sinks in a MILLION DOLLAR DREAM...<br />
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-nLVw8ltM5WI/WVz-d0uu4qI/AAAAAAAAC-8/KkWlo47IXxk6hbmrVlGrF_l0Np9xXuT3ACLcBGAs/s1600/sover21.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="404" data-original-width="639" height="252" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-nLVw8ltM5WI/WVz-d0uu4qI/AAAAAAAAC-8/KkWlo47IXxk6hbmrVlGrF_l0Np9xXuT3ACLcBGAs/s400/sover21.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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...which makes Takada tap instantly once all of the hooks are secured! Great match! Ignore all the baggage about shoot-style and the progression to MMA and realism et cetera: I think fans of good wrestling matches would find something in here to enjoy.</div>
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Going into this match with a brief analysis of the UWF roster: Nakano,
Anjo, and Miyato are the bottom rung. Norman Smiley has been brought in
but has already lost to the middle-ranked Yamazaki, who in turn has lost
to Maeda. Which left Takada as the only unknown quantity after his
gentle 'draw' with Miyato on opening night. Maeda's win leaves Maeda as the undisputed top dog. I hope he has a plan...</div>
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Maeda's hand is raised and the crowd surge to ringside, filling the gap between the front row and the apron completely in order to touch the hem of Maeda's thin garments. Maeda grabs the ring mic and makes a brief oration before collapsing to his knees, selling the gruelling nature of his bout.</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ipRUM07C7XU/WV0BLWg53-I/AAAAAAAAC_M/6WSWCac__rYm89FDz9omYi9WRHaP8FjLQCLcBGAs/s1600/sover22.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="411" data-original-width="585" height="280" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ipRUM07C7XU/WV0BLWg53-I/AAAAAAAAC_M/6WSWCac__rYm89FDz9omYi9WRHaP8FjLQCLcBGAs/s400/sover22.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">OH YOU DIDN'T KNOW? YOUR ASS BETTER CAAAAAAAAAAAAA...</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<b>NEXT TIME: </b>UWF The Professional Bout! Featuring SEVEN new faces!D. Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14629124673589292567noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6812605115270563531.post-51839437712726914552017-07-04T03:35:00.000-07:002017-07-25T03:23:09.638-07:00UWF 12/5/88 - STARTING OVER (01/31)<b>UWF Starting Over</b><br />
Korakuen Hall, Tokyo<br />
12th May 1988<br />
att. 2300<br />
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We begin with black leader tape perhaps referencing the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LGDu7YOlVuE">1983 Chris Marker film <i>Sans Soleil</i></a> (but probably not) but more crucially reflecting darkness which itself represents not only actual darkness but the murky gloom in the pit of Akira Maeda's soul; trapped as it is in a false-but-reasonably-well-recompensed life and forced to tread boards in a world not solely-dedicated to shoot-style wrestling. The humanity! The despair!</div>
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But from that blackness emerges a familiar logo: Maeda's <i>heimat </i>made not flesh but rather a limited liability company licensed for the public performance of wrestling. And not just any old wrestling, the marketing cries. <i>This</i> UWF is a kind of wrestling never before considered quite so real, they boast. It will be considered as real as when it was in fact a real sport (without a governing body, unless shady thugs are a governing body, which I suppose in a way they are).</div>
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This is wrestling pre-Sammartino, pre-Londos, pre-Thesz, pre-Strangler and the "Gold Dust Trio", pre-Hackenschmidt leaving for America on being told his actually-being-good was bad-for-business (though I bet there were definitely wiseguys in Europe who were all 'hmmm I am not sure that if you did a cravat like <i>that </i>that you would sell it that way', this is a sham!, etc.). This is, contentions of what constitutes authenticity aside, real.</div>
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This is UWF: </div>
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-VljsLUecqyI/WVpQUtdTrsI/AAAAAAAAC5o/8twltrjewuUU1KU2d3-VVrTueOaiwk0rwCLcBGAs/s1600/uwflogo01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="444" data-original-width="810" height="218" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-VljsLUecqyI/WVpQUtdTrsI/AAAAAAAAC5o/8twltrjewuUU1KU2d3-VVrTueOaiwk0rwCLcBGAs/s400/uwflogo01.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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The opening minutes show a full Korakuen Hall increasing in volume as six fighters emerge for the initial parade: a simple thing and by now rote if you are a follower of the way Japanese promotions operate. But by gum if it isn't a bit exciting to just see the guys ahead of seeing them again in a few minutes time.</div>
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Our combatants this evening, in order, are: Shigeo Miyato, Tatsuo Nakano, "Mr. 200%" Yoji Anjo, Kazuo Yamazaki, Nobuhiko Takada, and finally MA-EDA!-MA-EDA! himself. There's probably 40-45lbs separating the largest from the smallest at a guess, spanning either side of the notional pro-wrestling heavyweight limit of 220lbs.</div>
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All six are wearing identical t-shirts white t-shirts with UWF logo (track jackets a mere twinkle in the eye of Maeda, it seems) with many if-not-all opting to roll the already short sleeves up in the way a Brando-esque biker tough might in order to stow an illicit pack of cigarettes. On some of the guys it looks fine. On Nakano, who opts for something of a Yakuza-esque pompadour atop his puggish features, it looks incredible. Maeda cuts a brief introductory promo.</div>
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Also: if you have played the excellent Management Of The Ring part of <i>Final Fire Pro Wrestling</i> on the Game Boy Advance (or an emulator of said) then this kind of depleted roster aesthetic feels quite real. On one hand you're like 'cool, I can get to know all of these guys right away!' and on the other 'how can they keep this interesting?'</div>
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<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ar1HGE-_m3s/WVpQTqzomYI/AAAAAAAAC5k/O9PzrZVE5q8Ngv8jzP8DK8pi-6ks99QWwCEwYBhgL/s1600/startingover01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="462" data-original-width="605" height="305" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ar1HGE-_m3s/WVpQTqzomYI/AAAAAAAAC5k/O9PzrZVE5q8Ngv8jzP8DK8pi-6ks99QWwCEwYBhgL/s400/startingover01.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">early adventures in aesthetic excellence</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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After the parade there is a short video package detailing the build-up to the start of the show. Several punters (most of whom are smartly-dressed) are press-ganged for their opinions. Not being at all competent in Japanese I can hazard only guesses. Basically one guy seems pleased that 'real wrestling' is back perhaps?</div>
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Then we witness a strange ceremony in which Tatsuo Nakano pours out (what looks like) sake into some plastic cups before he and a tie-wearing man hide (what looks like) a plate of rice underneath one of the ringposts. Whether for luck or amusement we are never to learn. Suffice to say a group of cameramen take sincere interest in this development.</div>
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There is a montage of wrestlers training, jumping rope, and moving in focused patterns between the ropes in the empty hall as various technicians loiter and weave their magic atop precariously perched ladders. The kind of music beloved of Maeda, part-inspirational entrance theme for a Star Lord, part-corporate video for a luxury toilet manufacturer, plays in a spirited fashion.</div>
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More fans are met. These two girls speak at length, with LEFT being a big fan of Maeda while I think RIGHT says TAKADA-DESU. Both are absolutely adorable.</div>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hWzYPvWICp0/WVpQTsjrt8I/AAAAAAAAC5Y/HeiJ23Gu32M-jq23AMXlchIoc08aTCKMQCEwYBhgL/s1600/startingover02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="452" data-original-width="603" height="298" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hWzYPvWICp0/WVpQTsjrt8I/AAAAAAAAC5Y/HeiJ23Gu32M-jq23AMXlchIoc08aTCKMQCEwYBhgL/s400/startingover02.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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The significance of this passed me by but it feels remiss to ignore it:<br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lN7t7ShR1fQ/WVpQTso0xUI/AAAAAAAAC5c/H5sZHwkrKeo0PxFRE4euYqcJvkIGYRIaACEwYBhgL/s1600/startingover03.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="420" data-original-width="823" height="203" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lN7t7ShR1fQ/WVpQTso0xUI/AAAAAAAAC5c/H5sZHwkrKeo0PxFRE4euYqcJvkIGYRIaACEwYBhgL/s400/startingover03.jpg" width="400" /> </a></div>
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Prior to the first match there are individual announcements of several men who are all near to ringside, all of whom recieve warm applause, and all of whom I would guess are prominent men of other combat sports? If you know better - about anything - then please comment beneath! This is a learning exercise for all. The only two that I recognise are Yoshiaki Fujiwara who already looks rather old but quite dapper in a sort-of tweed, and Karl Gotch. </div>
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We see Gotch and some of these other men in the VT immediately before their introduction, all talking up how UWF is different. Only Gotch, in his strange Belgian-American accent, is understandable to me. He says this:</div>
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
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<i>And naturally the idea, to work it out will be a long hard road like everything else. That it's new to the people. And you won't have no help from the outside world because nobody knows this style of wrestling. So people have to have a little patience, you'll have to produce young and good Japanese wrestlers, and you have to work it along the same lines as sumo and judo. Originate here where the seed is planted and from here spread it out. Remember when judo was only in Japan the interest was there and the people came to see it. Once sumo caught hold, sumo is all over the world. So I think the same can be done with professional wrestling shooting-style</i>.</div>
</blockquote>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-pYKM04Uzad4/WVpQUFfnlgI/AAAAAAAAC5g/tvoPy1nevIICkIYjEeiXjc1iOiuRhnwmwCEwYBhgL/s1600/startingover04.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="464" data-original-width="606" height="306" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-pYKM04Uzad4/WVpQUFfnlgI/AAAAAAAAC5g/tvoPy1nevIICkIYjEeiXjc1iOiuRhnwmwCEwYBhgL/s400/startingover04.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">AND THAT'S THE BOTTOM LINE BECAUSE KARL GOTCH SAID SO</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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So it seems that Maeda, through Gotch, is perhaps setting the bar for the evening at a modest and clearable height whilst on the other hand targeting international domination not just as a promotion but by becoming the entire version of an entire sport. These kinds of ambitions just did not fly in Inoki's New Japan, clearly.</div>
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UWF Newborn's first match is a 10-minute time limit exhibition match between <b>Nobuhiko Takada</b> and <b>Shigeo Miyato</b> that serves as hors d'oeuvre to the not-exactly extensive menu on offer. After the logo, the second iconic visual of UWF is apparent: that exact style of kneepad, branded kickpad, and sports shoe, worn in this particular manner and indicative forever that the wrestler you are about to see is a Class Act:</div>
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-X6QmhoHevaw/WVpiY2sczHI/AAAAAAAAC50/DCDCuj8mF14oKDPKhNX4VjLwErgzEz6IwCLcBGAs/s1600/startingover05.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="405" data-original-width="502" height="322" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-X6QmhoHevaw/WVpiY2sczHI/AAAAAAAAC50/DCDCuj8mF14oKDPKhNX4VjLwErgzEz6IwCLcBGAs/s400/startingover05.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Takada has inches and kilograms on Miyato and the visual instantly spells an outclassing to the throng at ringside. Miyato throws peppy little kicks that make a light <i>pew pew! </i>sound off Takada's top-heavy frame. Takada throws less stylish kicks back that make a deeper clubbing sound - <i>bumf bumf </i>- and even if the style of wrestling here doesn't feel super real then at the very least the dynamic does.</div>
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SIDEBAR: To talk about this in terms of realness sort of feels both completely the point and also opposed to the point. Most people reading this will be in some way interested and knowledgeable about UWF. But maybe some of you won't. So I'll quickly iterate what UWF is trying to do and how it is trying to do it.</div>
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UWF are attempting to put on shows of wrestling that looks real (like a "shoot", wrestling jargon for 'real', the opposite of a "work", or 'fake') but indeed is still just as much phoney (as in pre-determined) as a match from WWF of the same era. To make it look real the workers use 'real' techniques such as strikes, throws, and groundwork as one might see in real fights or other combat sports and martial arts. </div>
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In addition the performers, who are often trained real fighters to some degree of proficiency, remove the showground antics that reveals professional wrestling to be fake: dramatic near-falls, running the ropes, allowing opponents to take grips and position, climbing the turnbuckle, posing ostentatiously, unrealistic physics. The ruleset of UWF omits victories by pinfall, opting for the cleanliness and 'realness' of wins by knockout or submission only.</div>
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For some, particularly western viewers, shoot-style can be dry to watch or counter-productive to entertainment in an era where an increasing awareness of wrestling as sham exists. Some people want and crave the carnival barker and the illusory strongman and the protracted backstage segment where tanned goons attempt to discover who ran over their friend. This is fine! Indeed, after a couple of shows of RINGS or BattleARTS, eI find it good to watch some southern wrasslin' or hyperantic contemporary New Japan. Drama is good. Variety is good.</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-A2vAb3TZPKM/WVpyEd4Nz5I/AAAAAAAAC6I/VpP0Ue-FmTYEVbhRIQxMWdPgaZy7y_otQCLcBGAs/s1600/startingover07.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="449" data-original-width="594" height="301" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-A2vAb3TZPKM/WVpyEd4Nz5I/AAAAAAAAC6I/VpP0Ue-FmTYEVbhRIQxMWdPgaZy7y_otQCLcBGAs/s400/startingover07.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">you are right, that stance will not block this kick</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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But (and here is the rub and the idea behind this blog): <i>UWF did not quite nail the realist aesthetic</i>. No one truly ever does. To make a fake thing look real is very difficult to do when in fact what constitutes a shoot is in flux ("what is a shoot?" copyright in perpetuity TOM) and indeed the realism of every era, whatever the artistic medium (take a look at any realist cinema from the 1950s, for instance), changes. Which is mind-boggling if you think about it, so I urge you not to.</div>
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As <a href="http://tkscissors.blogspot.co.uk/">TK Scissors</a> clearly charts the movement from realistic fake to actual fight in the RINGS cycle, Kick Submission Suplex is interested in the earlier movement from a kind of more obvious fake to a less obvious one; the development of an art and the emergence of a kind of proto-punk version of wrestling and MMA. END SIDEBAR</div>
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Which neatly brings us back to Takada doing a leg scissors takedown after catching one of Miyato's zippy kicks in a way that seems smart and yet to the eyes of a person in 2017 seems like a pro-wrestling transition. The crowd is dead silent but, I aver, in a good way. Takada roughly pretzels Miyato, one of many ways in which the smaller and greener man will be ragdolled in here, and the referee says "give up?" that in a low voice that is nonetheless clearly audible.</div>
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What the crowd - and I - like here are the clever escapes and the parts where it seems like Miyato is sick of Takada's dominance in order to let rip with some high kicks and palm strikes. We can talk of holes in the reality game for all 31 episodes if we like - such as clear pro-wrestling 'selling' by Miyato, or when Miyato has a high kick blocked and he hits the mat. MMA has taught us the importance of these quicksilver opportunities to get the back, to ground and pound, to look for the choke.</div>
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Even further: the chances are you would not throw such kicks with such regularity lest your opponent take your other leg from under you. Here in the nascent splendour of UWF, Takada just lets Miyato get up and resume throwing kicks at will. Maybe this compromises the work for future generations but the vast majority of the 2300 in the house seem reasonably convinced by the action.</div>
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Miyato is hamstrung by not knowing what to do in dominant positions such as a prone opponent while standing, or, more likely now I think about it, knowing that he will get massacred if he is caught too deep in Takada's groundwork zone.</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-NMrEvTM7wKg/WVpvopEC0wI/AAAAAAAAC6A/sv3kiRyzekMrSkPirQEVO6wWTGwDAjwRgCLcBGAs/s1600/startingover06.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="421" data-original-width="606" height="277" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-NMrEvTM7wKg/WVpvopEC0wI/AAAAAAAAC6A/sv3kiRyzekMrSkPirQEVO6wWTGwDAjwRgCLcBGAs/s400/startingover06.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">TAPPING-DESU</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
The exhibition is ruled a draw after ten minutes elapsed, but in reality Takada wins having made Miyato tap twice mid-fight. The first, an achilles hold after a failed leglock, caught Miyato yards from a rope break. The second, only 90 seconds later, felt a little more realistic as Takada shot Miyato's leg and worked through for the classic juji-gatame / perpendicular armbar using a clear size/strength advantage. After the break Miyato comes charging straight back with his little <i>pew-pew</i>! kicks and the crowd cheer uproariously.</div>
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I think because Miyato is just a little guy with like 1 year of NJPW experience, while Takada was approaching veteran worker level as well as being in the original UWF as a star, then just having Miyato stay alive and showing 'fighting spirit' until the end means that both guys look better as a result! Takada bows deeply to show respect to the man whose limbs he just manipulated like a clown making a dog from those long balloons.</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-bV28Vv9qOiA/WVqYeOSUteI/AAAAAAAAC6k/-gBSLD7uFlcbXOGHnA-rnllB3fgSYxL-gCEwYBhgL/s1600/startingover08.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="412" data-original-width="593" height="277" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-bV28Vv9qOiA/WVqYeOSUteI/AAAAAAAAC6k/-gBSLD7uFlcbXOGHnA-rnllB3fgSYxL-gCEwYBhgL/s400/startingover08.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"good work li'l buddy" says Takada to Miyato</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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The second fight pits <b>Yoji Anjo</b>, still many years from being forced by his great personal friend Takada to fly to California in order to dojo storm Rickson Gracie and eat the subsequent punishment and career decimation in front of his nation's assembled sports media (though Rickson, who has the tape, has never released it, and <a href="http://tkscissors.blogspot.co.uk/2017/06/rings-blog-supplemental-52600-colosseum.html">who could doubt his word</a>?), against <b>Tatsuo Nakano</b>, whose only MMA defeat (and match) came at the hands of a 600lb man who simply lay on top of him.</div>
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While these instances do not speak of great fighters <i>qua</i> fighting, they do at least evoke the strange warrior-clown-poet position in society occupied by professional combat people. From a certain angle, wherever they lie on the skill spectrum, they are all the same once they step into the ring.</div>
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A previous bout in the original UWF between the two is long in the memory of the VHS generation without access to excellent resources such as <a href="http://www.profightdb.com/">Profightdb</a> and <a href="https://www.cagematch.net/">Cagematch</a>. Nakano won it. After a flurry of missed kicks, Anjo and Nakano settle into exchanges of muted grappling. For 12 minutes the crowd is silent - but rapt. And you can tell they're rapt rather than bored because there is a moment where Nakano catches Anjo a fraction of a leg extension from a full-blooded heel hook. If Anjo extends for the rope break, he could be toast before he makes it. The entirety of the crowd yelp and then sharply intake breath at the same time as Anjo scrambles to safety through a different door.</div>
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-GsqbUup0o88/WVqYdFX0u0I/AAAAAAAAC6c/bfoYn7Nvqs839umVAWgbmgnAXndY7GoAgCEwYBhgL/s1600/startingover09.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="411" data-original-width="593" height="276" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-GsqbUup0o88/WVqYdFX0u0I/AAAAAAAAC6c/bfoYn7Nvqs839umVAWgbmgnAXndY7GoAgCEwYBhgL/s400/startingover09.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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After this exchange the contest becomes less cerebral with feet in shoot-style and pro-wrestling. In the image above, Nakano breaks out Tatsumi Fujinami's Dragon Leg Screw (which feasibly feels like it could work but also seems so quintessentially pro-wrestling because Hiroshi Tanahashi uses it) while a minute or so later Anjo gets carried away so much after a flurry of violence he tries to roll through for a pin in a KO or submission-only promotion (see below).</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lEplZ5oIAOc/WVqYfFGCZxI/AAAAAAAAC6o/UQLfKnNSY84mdo66VpLKOfD5pNwb5Y0igCEwYBhgL/s1600/startingover10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="446" data-original-width="603" height="295" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lEplZ5oIAOc/WVqYfFGCZxI/AAAAAAAAC6o/UQLfKnNSY84mdo66VpLKOfD5pNwb5Y0igCEwYBhgL/s400/startingover10.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">which is a shame because it was a very nice pinning predicament</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
It really is quite an entertaining bout though. Nakano knees a semi-prone Anjo so hard that he flies out of the ring in a way that doesn't feel like a stunty 'spot'. There's also a growing sense that, as Gotch warned at the top of the show, the education is paying dividends. Submissions do not need 15 minutes of limb-work to help grease the wheels. When Anjo catches Nakano nearly perfectly in kind of reverse waki-gatame (Fujiwara armbar, please remember who is sat ringside) the cheers grow louder despite Nakano maybe receiving two kicks to that arm.</div>
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Accidentally the match exposes something in the rules that needed ironing out. Anjo kicks the piss out of Nakano for a couple of minutes and then starts stomping on him in a WRASSLIN' style until the referee lazily jumps in and starts a count. Nakano gets up and then sort of takes another count, implying that he could do that all day to avoid losing. It doesn't spoil the match. In fact the sight of Nakano staggering around and selling feels like an early influence of Tomohiro Ishii. Later UWF would implement the five knockdown rule.</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-SzwBojokXTk/WVqYgbCQPtI/AAAAAAAAC64/_F5e0Xam8r0bleot3k04hMROtPWfNWEJACEwYBhgL/s1600/startingover11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="430" data-original-width="609" height="281" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-SzwBojokXTk/WVqYgbCQPtI/AAAAAAAAC64/_F5e0Xam8r0bleot3k04hMROtPWfNWEJACEwYBhgL/s400/startingover11.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">MUDHOLE-DESU</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
There's also a cool spot that gets replayed at the end that is pure
pro-wrestling and yet in context feels reasonable and semi-legitimate:
after pounding Nakano in the corner with strikes, Anjo unleashes a
pearler of a drop-kick. Highlight of the match also comes from a 'hole'. Nakano hits a lovely German suplex hold for the pin, again the match cannot be won this way. Anjo rolls his shoulders delicately and turns Nakano into juji-gatame. </div>
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-roVEJBsV0mg/WVqYhGDa7YI/AAAAAAAAC64/4AXWIG-UFKccS63twn5WPa0NaslNJjD_ACEwYBhgL/s1600/startingover12.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="465" data-original-width="615" height="301" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-roVEJBsV0mg/WVqYhGDa7YI/AAAAAAAAC64/4AXWIG-UFKccS63twn5WPa0NaslNJjD_ACEwYBhgL/s400/startingover12.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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In the end Nakano's raw brutishness and callous kicking wear Anjo down sufficiently for Nakano to sink in a deep triangle choke. The crowd love it. Both these guys! Both these guys!</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-0OVA-GszTc8/WVqvq3S12VI/AAAAAAAAC7A/fhslp3bpK8M_WjwnnsYS3aP0bYXIfTyuQCLcBGAs/s1600/startingover13.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="461" data-original-width="684" height="268" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-0OVA-GszTc8/WVqvq3S12VI/AAAAAAAAC7A/fhslp3bpK8M_WjwnnsYS3aP0bYXIfTyuQCLcBGAs/s400/startingover13.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">NA-KA-NO!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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The main event pits Our Lord and Saviour <b>Akira Maeda</b> against current NJPW commentator <b>Kazuo Yamazaki</b>. Until a recent spate of going deep with UWF and New Japan I had seen precisely one Yamazaki bout. The story of that experience goes thus: when first getting into all things Dave Meltzer, before realising he is prose-stylist and historian first (and all historians are prose stylists to some degree) and an accurate match-rater fifteenth, I sought out a bunch of Meltzer five star matches. In that period I watched a lot of good stuff featuring the likes of Steamboat, Flair, Dynamite Kid, Tiger Mask I, The Sheepherders, Tenryu, Kawada, Misawa, etc. </div>
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In the original UWF, Kazuo Yamazaki had a five-star match with Nobuhiko Takada. When I sat down to watch it at about age 20 I did not understand what the hell was going on. Why was Takada not mounting Yamazaki and barking like a dog in his face. Why did Yamazaki not repeatedly motion to his crotch in order to "break it down"? Would either of them dive through a pane of glass? There were some cool transitional sequences that even an idiot could enjoy but this did not feel like a classic to me (a classic to me at the time: an unbearded Jay Briscoe vs. an unbearded Mark Briscoe from Ring of Honor Invades Boston in 2002 in front 500 people at the Americal Civic Center in Wakefield, MA).</div>
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Here we see Yamazaki is training hard for the upcoming bout:</div>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-q4oOXAxcsdI/WVqwXODF3yI/AAAAAAAAC7E/d5AlSLxCPZwjWxBG2NCKFW_2HiTYWvm1gCLcBGAs/s1600/startingover14.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="448" data-original-width="594" height="301" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-q4oOXAxcsdI/WVqwXODF3yI/AAAAAAAAC7E/d5AlSLxCPZwjWxBG2NCKFW_2HiTYWvm1gCLcBGAs/s400/startingover14.jpg" width="400" /> </a></div>
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At this point I feel I should also mention that in UWF there is no championship to speak of. Maeda would eventually introduce tournaments and titles to RINGS, but UWF is pure-prizefighting. Having never watched the shows in sequence I am hoping to divine whether there is more than just nebulous honour and feeling of attainment at stake in the matchmaking. The "champion" henceforth is Maeda, who fulfils the criteria of being the corporeal and spiritual Akira Maeda. </div>
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Maeda makes some pre-match comments but is startled by a mouse:</div>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/--NrDDSj_to0/WVqxXZX_MGI/AAAAAAAAC7I/lL6OadiR5FAnMZ27UDTr0XvvwqizuKxTACLcBGAs/s1600/startingover15.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="421" data-original-width="590" height="283" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/--NrDDSj_to0/WVqxXZX_MGI/AAAAAAAAC7I/lL6OadiR5FAnMZ27UDTr0XvvwqizuKxTACLcBGAs/s400/startingover15.jpg" width="400" /> </a></div>
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These little shots of training earlier in the day with pre-recorded comments are so much better than 95% of in-ring promos and backstage live segments of modern wrestling, aren't they? Even when you can't tell what is being said, they do the job of making the match feel reasonably serious, especially when intercut with shots of the wrestlers in gym clothes doing calisthenics. Let us compare to a recent series of weak burns masquerading as promo from a leading brand of contemporary US wrestling:</div>
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
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<i>Cass claimed that he was the where the money was at, but Enzo told him
don't be surprised when the merchandise check comes at it reads zero
dimes next quarter. That is, unless Cass starts wearing a shirt that
reads "Casshole." Enzo dropped the microphone and his music started, but
then he picked it up and started again. Enzo told Cass that they were
brothers who were "ride or die." That part of him is dead because it
rolled down his face with one gangster tear when Cass killed it. But
then that Cass boot that touched his lips breathed new life into life.
That's why he's wearing a Tupac bandana now because he's an army of one
now, and it's all eyes on him. </i></div>
</blockquote>
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I mean don't you just want to die inside?</div>
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On to the match! Yamazaki - with a great look that combines dark full length trousers with a star motif, kickpads over white Asics Tigers (I knew a guy who only wore Asics Tigers, would send off for rare colourways and editions, I do not like him but for different reasons), and a quite prominent widow's peak - is such a tidy grappler for one so rangy.</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-DfNWJVGaDOA/WVthhkEH6wI/AAAAAAAAC7Y/doRGgIKjb-8b7ni-YZfLKbR-8rzXhdwhACLcBGAs/s1600/startingover16.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="430" data-original-width="614" height="280" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-DfNWJVGaDOA/WVthhkEH6wI/AAAAAAAAC7Y/doRGgIKjb-8b7ni-YZfLKbR-8rzXhdwhACLcBGAs/s400/startingover16.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">as pulled off a cave wall</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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The first five minutes of the match are just Yamazaki showing Maeda that he has better stuff: his kicks are snappier, his defence is sharper, and he can wriggle out of any bad position and into a better one. Maeda does some brutalist judo but Yamazaki falls safely and gets to ropes in an unhurried manner should he get caught in his opponent's wiles.</div>
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(I note at this point that the referee is wearing a blue shirt and bow-tie whereas the prior referees had been wearing a red and white polo shirt. A sure sign that Maeda's aesthetic iron fist was still firmly wrapped inside a velvet glove.)</div>
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The middle fifteen minutes or so are dynamic and fascinating, ranging from careful and tentative grappling to increasingly flustered strikes. Both men throw sick suplexes with little of the ceremony of professional wrestling. That said, at one point Maeda hits a gorgeous pinning suplex that he holds onto, forgetful of his own rules, and this time the ref starts the count! </div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qaSiaDdCies/WVtjrNrFlgI/AAAAAAAAC7c/ugt1jgk264wxWEX-ovZ-g35hdsAqXnW5QCLcBGAs/s1600/startingover17.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="464" data-original-width="588" height="315" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qaSiaDdCies/WVtjrNrFlgI/AAAAAAAAC7c/ugt1jgk264wxWEX-ovZ-g35hdsAqXnW5QCLcBGAs/s400/startingover17.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">CAN WE PLEASE BE CONSISTENT WITH THE RULES, YAMAZAKI SEEMS TO SAY</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Into the final third Yamazaki burrows Maeda deep into the corner and hits him with little digs to get him to double over before smashing him in the head with a high kick. Maeda takes a count and then gets up to find Yamazaki ready to serve up Asics Tiger tartare. </div>
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-1KEZLfpZA8U/WVtjrFZV9BI/AAAAAAAAC7g/gCy75Gd-nBc0F3rmFtjy3Y6RrxiBFOWEgCLcBGAs/s1600/startingover18.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="444" data-original-width="597" height="296" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-1KEZLfpZA8U/WVtjrFZV9BI/AAAAAAAAC7g/gCy75Gd-nBc0F3rmFtjy3Y6RrxiBFOWEgCLcBGAs/s400/startingover18.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Yamazaki keeps the barrage going but Maeda miraculously turns this into a cool waki-gatame that Yamazaki struggles to get out of. </div>
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The ending is really good. After a couple of tired missed strikes, both men back off for a second, weary with effort. Maeda comes forward first and eats a trip to the dentist.</div>
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ghMDgB8Xyx0/WVtpGDovAAI/AAAAAAAAC7s/fQKtna7zgB8-7K1TFhYbAQIZ88Xb3RqogCLcBGAs/s1600/startingover19.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="398" data-original-width="607" height="261" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ghMDgB8Xyx0/WVtpGDovAAI/AAAAAAAAC7s/fQKtna7zgB8-7K1TFhYbAQIZ88Xb3RqogCLcBGAs/s400/startingover19.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Maeda takes a 9 count that Yamazaki sprints in to take advantage of. Yamazaki kicks Maeda down to his knees and then, at Maeda's most vulnerable, Yamazaki throws a kick that will haunt my nightmares and sicken my soul until the day I die. Maeda looks woozy and takes another long count.</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-cIYXAaHf-qc/WVtpGZjECaI/AAAAAAAAC7w/BFWSQOgTdEgi8Ex6NdTovBCVPFIcjupugCLcBGAs/s1600/startingover20.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="415" data-original-width="613" height="270" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-cIYXAaHf-qc/WVtpGZjECaI/AAAAAAAAC7w/BFWSQOgTdEgi8Ex6NdTovBCVPFIcjupugCLcBGAs/s400/startingover20.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">OOOF</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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There's another slightly messier high kick and count spot after Maeda gets up from this one, an unfair count from the refereee as Yamazaki was on the mat too after delivering his jumping high kick. In the manner of the classic pro-wrestling babyface, Maeda catches a second (more like fifth) wind to power through Yamazaki's defences. He hits a clumsy-but-effective rolling wheel kick that scatters Yamazaki sufficiently for Maeda to get his hooks in with what looks like a Chickenwing Facelock (CRUCIAL EDIT: KS of TK Scissors, an expert in waza nomenclature, writes: "I would call that the single-wing strangle of Kata-Ha-Jime 片羽絞") but I am not sufficiently versed in recognising moves to say for sure other than to say that Yamazaki grimaces in penance for that quite gnar kick he nearly murdered his boss with.</div>
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Qel6nnMhWPE/WVtpGFn_NBI/AAAAAAAAC70/p-pTP5ypbLA7B0wGMML5xdPQ_ZzrodLWwCLcBGAs/s1600/startingover21.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="340" data-original-width="541" height="251" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Qel6nnMhWPE/WVtpGFn_NBI/AAAAAAAAC70/p-pTP5ypbLA7B0wGMML5xdPQ_ZzrodLWwCLcBGAs/s400/startingover21.jpg" width="400" /> </a></div>
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The crowd scream at all of this, even the slight messiness and out-of-nowhereness of Maeda's victory perhaps because they have received their full Gotchian education or perhaps just bcs Maeda. </div>
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We won't be doing star ratings over here at Kick Submission Suplex but this was a quality ending to a show that started with positive curiosity and got better as it went on.</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-OdMGh0TsyRA/WVtpG-lNcuI/AAAAAAAAC74/SKYZdXxPp-s2jzYOhPn43ED36gOxtJV5gCLcBGAs/s1600/startingover22.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="435" data-original-width="594" height="292" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-OdMGh0TsyRA/WVtpG-lNcuI/AAAAAAAAC74/SKYZdXxPp-s2jzYOhPn43ED36gOxtJV5gCLcBGAs/s400/startingover22.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">AND SO IT SHALL BE UNTIL THE END OF TIME</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<b>NEXT TIME: </b><br />
<b>UWF Starting Over 2nd</b> <br />
ft. Akira Maeda vs. Nobuhiko Takada!D. Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14629124673589292567noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6812605115270563531.post-53097499450289349552017-07-03T02:23:00.000-07:002017-07-15T01:05:39.708-07:00An introduction to shoot-style wrestling in Japan (0/31)<i><b>An incomplete introduction to shoot-style in Japan</b></i><br />
(<i>this introduction dedicated to Maximumrocknroll film critic Carolyn Keddy.</i>) <br />
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UWF is a professional wrestling promotion. It is not the 2006 promotion started by t-shirt entrepreneurs Earl and Dave Hebner because UWF stands for Universal Wrestling Federation.</div>
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The UWF that we are talking about is not the one run by Bill Watts in Oklahoma City. It is also not the national gambit of Herb Abrams that ran on DirectTV. We are also not talking about the German company owned by Rico Mecke. The UWF that we are referring to is owned by Akira Maeda. It was a promotion based in Japan.</div>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9LprpK9x16o/WVo4j5pRzkI/AAAAAAAAC44/l1Tfvz31RTMpHHmkKhqQZp7RNPCU2XJawCLcBGAs/s1600/uwf-logo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="167" data-original-width="209" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9LprpK9x16o/WVo4j5pRzkI/AAAAAAAAC44/l1Tfvz31RTMpHHmkKhqQZp7RNPCU2XJawCLcBGAs/s1600/uwf-logo.jpg" /></a></div>
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Akira Maeda was a part of New Japan Pro Wrestling. As part of a storyline he began a promotion in 1984 that opposed his parent company's slide towards 'American' style. After the storyline ended Maeda decided to start the company for real. He did this with Satoru Sayama who was the original Tiger Mask.</div>
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The company was successful. Maeda and Sayama began to disagree about the underlying philosophy of the company. Both believed in a more realistic version of wrestling. This would come to be known as 'shoot-style'. Maeda wished to see more grappling. Sayama wished to see more strikes. Maeda beat Sayama up for real in a match using both grappling and strikes.</div>
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Sayama left the wrestling industry in 1986. He would found Shooto in the same year.
Shooto is still in existence. Initially Shooto appeared very similar to kickboxing. Shooto
would amalgamate with the sport of vale tudo in the 1990s. It is focused on real fighting and has a legitimate governing body. In many ways it is an unheralded pioneer.</div>
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-3jFwLJr6o7U/WVo5SbnbTxI/AAAAAAAAC48/c3GfPnKfW1wUJlywaR0mpQk3dbc9WM13ACLcBGAs/s1600/MAEDAKICK.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="177" data-original-width="236" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-3jFwLJr6o7U/WVo5SbnbTxI/AAAAAAAAC48/c3GfPnKfW1wUJlywaR0mpQk3dbc9WM13ACLcBGAs/s1600/MAEDAKICK.jpg" /></a></div>
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Maeda was fired by UWF and returned to New Japan. Maeda got into trouble repeatedly for unprofessional behaviour. The most famous example was a match in which he kicked Andre The Giant repeatedly for refusing to lose. New Japan would later fire Maeda for beating up Riki Choshu and refusing to travel to Mexico. Maeda would then restart UWF. UWF 2 or UWF Newborn ran from 1988 to 1990. This is the company that this blog will be focused on. The company was successful throughout its existence. The specific reasons that this version of UWF stopped are unclear. It is thought that competing egos among the top talents contributed. UWF would split into three separate companies.</div>
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i. UWF-I was owned by Nobuhiko Takada. UWF-I would close in 1996. Takada would then open PRIDE in 1997 with Nobuyuki Sakakibara. PRIDE contained nearly all real fights. Some UWF-I wrestlers did not want to do real fights so KINGDOM was formed in 1997. KINGDOM closed in 1998. PRIDE was very successful. PRIDE bought out by Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) in 2007. Sakakibara now runs RIZIN. Takada runs a dojo.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-0-wIutSAm38/WVo4LLUx1RI/AAAAAAAAC4w/81Xt8Hn0TloMQVbKvRfZDUYjRjKvTDHJACLcBGAs/s1600/pwfg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="240" data-original-width="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-0-wIutSAm38/WVo4LLUx1RI/AAAAAAAAC4w/81Xt8Hn0TloMQVbKvRfZDUYjRjKvTDHJACLcBGAs/s1600/pwfg.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">PWFG</td></tr>
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ii. PWFG was owned by Yoshiaki Fujiwara. It ran from 1991 to 1996. Two of its major stars were Masakatsu Funaki and Minoru Suzuki. Real fights appeared in 1992. These real fights inspired Funaki and Suzuki to leave in 1993 to found Pancrase. Everybody except Fujiwara would leave to form BattlARTS in 1996. Pancrase blurred the lines between real and fake at first. It was mostly real. The company still exists but is in different hands. Its impact is not as significant these days. BattlARTS had its most significant run from 1996 to 2001. It would run intermittently until 2011.</div>
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iii. RINGS was owned by Akira Maeda. RINGS ran from 1991 to 2002. It would return later in the decade as a martial arts company. This version of RINGS is less significant.</div>
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There is also a similar story on the women's side of wrestling in Japan. Ladies Legend Pro-Wrestling (LLPW) was a shoot-style informed defection from Japanese Women's Pro-Wrestling (JPW). LLPW chiefly ran from 1993 to 1998. It has returned for sporadic revivals since.</div>
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A splinter company from All Japan Women (AJW) was formed in 1997. It was called Arsion. Arsion talents trained at BattlARTS and attended their shows. Arsion ran until 2003.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xNs77CoYqCk/WVo4anSZYAI/AAAAAAAAC40/YC5NnG1tCdg-SF6Q019fnGfixZ3wrSgSwCLcBGAs/s1600/w.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="434" data-original-width="600" height="231" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xNs77CoYqCk/WVo4anSZYAI/AAAAAAAAC40/YC5NnG1tCdg-SF6Q019fnGfixZ3wrSgSwCLcBGAs/s320/w.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">PRIDE FC</td></tr>
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The success of PRIDE defeated RINGS and BattlARTS commercially. The success of UFC defeated PRIDE commercially. All shoot-style dominant companies had converted to real fighting and then closed. </div>
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Companies such as New Japan Pro Wrestling and Zero1 would incorporate shoot-style into their programming in the late 1990s and early 2000s. The style was not as accepted by the fans of those companies. With a few minor exceptions these companies do not use shoot-style wrestling in 2017.</div>
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The kickboxing promotion K1 began a sideline MMA promotion named K1 Romanex. It folded after one show. This show featured a lot of names from the shoot-style era.</div>
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Kiyoshi Tamura of RINGS would open the U-Style promotion in 2003. It ran worked-shoot contests until closing in 2008. </div>
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A revival of the earlier and less technically-accomplished shoot-style was attempted in 2004 by Big Mouth Loud (BML). BML could not compete and closed its doors in 2006.</div>
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Antonio Inoki founded the Inoki Genome Federation (IGF) in 2007. IGF has presented a mixture of shoot-style and real fights. IGF has a novelty value. Currently IGF is going through a series of splits that may be storylines.</div>
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Hard Hit is a shoot-style sub-promotion of Dramatic Dream Team that commenced in 2008. They have not run a show since 2015.</div>
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As the end of the excellent blog <a href="http://tkscissors.blogspot.co.uk/">TK Scissors</a> approaches, a "weblog" dedicated to detailing the style and substance of the RINGS promotion, it is clear that a number of compelling narratives and themes have emerged.</div>
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There's a profound leap toward capturing the cultural landscape at the point where the most 'real' forms of 'false' professional wrestling becomes actual fighting via a lengthy and enigmatic period of blurring the lines of each.</div>
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And this landscape is given colour and richness in its intricate detailing of how such illusions were maintained by the painting of the talents of its leader Akira Maeda as well as chief stylistic exponents Tsuyoshi Kohsaka, Kiyoshi Tamura, and Volk Han (and many more). It is well worth a read.</div>
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(This period's rush toward modern MMA was doubtless influenced by Pancrase, about which a new blog is set to emerge. Look in at <a href="https://twitter.com/HybridShoot">@HybridShoot</a> for more.)</div>
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Of course if we treat the history of shoot-style in Japan with more respect and parsing, it is evidently more complex and sprawling in a country deeply invested in combat sport activity.</div>
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But for the purposes of this blog and I guess the ease of not being thesis-deep in a sport we're supposed to just consume and move on from we accept the general narrative thusly: Karl Gotch came to Japan and impressed NJPW-head Antonio Inoki with the genius of catch-as-catch-can wrestling. Inoki, feeling that this style was the superior style of all the fighting styles, would book himself to defeat great exponents of other styles such as karate, boxing, judo, etc.</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-IMAvaeYbXz8/WVo9iFdeYTI/AAAAAAAAC5M/UU1s2FN9Se0kwL7BNYBd8igKkgT0xMH0wCLcBGAs/s1600/inokiali.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="385" data-original-width="500" height="246" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-IMAvaeYbXz8/WVo9iFdeYTI/AAAAAAAAC5M/UU1s2FN9Se0kwL7BNYBd8igKkgT0xMH0wCLcBGAs/s320/inokiali.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">contractually-obliged to talk about this match</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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As this brand of entertaining nonsense was coming off its apex (Inoki vs. Ali) the 19-year old Akira Maeda entered the New Japan dojo. And as much as the young Maeda learned the intricacies of grappling from Inoki and his cadre of skilled trainers (Gotch, Sayama, Fujiwara, Allen Coage. Has a man been better educated?) one cannot help that Maeda learned a thing or two about the bigger picture along the way.</div>
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In this we can see the spirit-germ of the punkish ethos of shoot-style wrestling: that the enterprise has become too leaden with the proggish falseness of maintaining American-style drama (in a way that would also anticipate the Brechtian nightmare of post-kayfabe breaking and the admission that everything is fake so why not draw a firm line in the sand RIGHT NOW). There must be a new year zero.</div>
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In tackling this one key falsehood one must strip away all other elements of the grime and dust and bollocks and get back to presenting a pure vision: a vision of two competitors clanging away at each other using real techniques. And then, in developing this style, realising that some forms of what you perceive as realness are still fairly false. And also realising that some forms of falseness actually help the realness (as PRIDE would gloriously realise and UFC would dramatically overdo).</div>
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That Maeda was no older than 25 when the first UWF exploded is, to me, remarkable. I am resistant to great men narratives and find the 'brass ring' nonsense spurted by Vince McMahon to be ahistorical at best! But here is an example of someone just not doing something unless it is done his way and pish-posh to all else! So maybe there is hope for NXT up-and-comer The Velveteen Dream. If only someone could get this blog to him we might have the first excellent radical black wrestling promotion!</div>
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I digress. Whilst popular in New Japan prior to the first UWF, Maeda was not a superstar. His size and natural charisma opened doors that others would have had to train and job for years to get a sniff of. But attached to an ego the size of an Inoki, with an Inoki (and others) keeping him down, it seems only too expected that Maeda's career would be dictated nearly solely by Maeda's whims.</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-XDTlp8N0CaA/WVo8JhOyGzI/AAAAAAAAC5E/MOcS_AQJdmQmwXTA1IGZfOrCsyHw4gnIACLcBGAs/s1600/28894.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="600" height="266" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-XDTlp8N0CaA/WVo8JhOyGzI/AAAAAAAAC5E/MOcS_AQJdmQmwXTA1IGZfOrCsyHw4gnIACLcBGAs/s400/28894.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">lol at the t-shirt Sakuraba (in Tiger Mask)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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All of which might make you think that he is a classic asshole of wrestling, a Hulk Hogan-meets-Vince McMahon nightmare. But this story is not so simple. Perhaps because of Maeda's influential and singular path-clearing, and perhaps because Maeda was not simply some Hogan-style I-wins-lol type, and perhaps because ultimately there is the detectable trace of the nebbish who ultimately loses in the final analysis (unlike say Hogan in his Gawker case or McMahon and his ruining of all wrestling) there is a strange glow about a man who sometimes does incredibly awful things in pursuit of something arcane. Let me throw you over to <a href="http://tkscissors.blogspot.co.uk/2017/01/rings-31994-rings-1994-in-yokohama.html">TK Scissors</a>, not for the last time I expect:</div>
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i><span style="font-family: inherit;">Our
main event sees the always very good Andrei Kopilov against AKIRA MAEDA
whose name came up in a recent Wrestling Observer Radio mailbag answer,
in that a correspondent asked Dave Meltzer a question about Bam Bam
Bigelow (who died penniless yet who asserted until the last that it
didn't cost anything to watch the sunset; may peace be upon him) and the
pleasingly aimless answer that then came eventually turned to Bigelow's
time in Japan, and New Japan's decision to give him a win over Maeda,
who uhhhhhhh was not wild about losing to a fat foreigner he would rather kick for real.
As Meltzer tells it, Maeda agreed to do the honours (as one says) but
was singularly unpleasant throughout. Bam Bam, when he got back from
Japan, was talking to Dave about and was like yeah I don't know what was
going on but at one point this Maeda guy just totally spat on me in the
middle of the match, and then Dave explained about Akira Maeda, and Bam
Bam was like oooooooh okay I see, Akira Maeda. Obviously this is the
behaviour of a reprehensible asshole, but such is the strange yet
undeniable lure of Akira Maeda that when I was listening to this story
whilst tidying the basement (the basement that resists all tidying, that
will be not be tamed) I didn't think "Maeda, you reprehensible asshole"
but instead "lol Maeda you mad cunt" but in the English sense of cunt
as term of fond warmth (I am not an objectionable person in any way and
always use the word cunt sparingly and always responsibly and never unchivalrously, ask anyone). </span></i></blockquote>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
If you remember (or scroll up to) the history lesson up top, the story of UWF is one of a newly-emerged and -grown section of the business in sudden fragmentation. We will learn all about the main actors behind the three-way split, as well as some other familiar (and one or two unfamiliar) faces along the way!</div>
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That leaves us here, with 18 of the 31 events promoted by the second - and in my opinion, best - version of the Universal Wrestling Federation (of Japan), on a hard drive on my computer. Even if the remaining 13 events make themselves known, I imagine covering all of them should not be too onerous a task. I am excited to learn and share with you!</div>
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<i><b>Join us next week for 12/5/88 - STARTING OVER!</b></i><br />
<br />D. Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14629124673589292567noreply@blogger.com3