UWF 29/11/1989 - U-COSMOS (19/31)

UWF U-COSMOS
29th November 1989
Tokyo Dome, Tokyo
att. 60000

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. 

As we learn from watching RINGS (or if you are me, reading RINGSblog aka TK Scissors) 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. 

UWF 04/05/1989 - MAY HISTORY 1ST (10/31)

UWF May History 1st
Osaka Stadium, Osaka
4th May 1989
att. 23000

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 incredible. Please, admit it, using the comments below.

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.