UWF 30/09/89 and 01/10/89 - FORCE KORAKUEN 2 DAYS (16/31 & 17/31)

UWF Force Korakuen 2 Days (Day 1)
Korakuen Hall, Tokyo
30th September 1989
att. 2300

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...it was). 

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).

UWF 25/10/1989 - FIGHTING ART (18/31)

UWF Fighting Art
Sports Centre, Nakajima
25th October 1989
att. 5600

To go 'inside the curtain' (which is the meaning of the top division in sumo known as Makuuchi (幕内), 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) 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.

And to go even further inside that curtain like, perhaps, ha ha (does knowing cultural studies lecturer positional adjustment) the recent season of Twin Peaks (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)

UWF 07/09/1989 - FIGHTING BASE NAGANO (15/31)

UWF Fighting Base Nagano

Movement Park Gymnasium, Nagano
7th September 1989
att. 4500

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.

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: Kingdom of Shoot! 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.

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 purolove.com:

UWF 13/08/1989 - MIDSUMMER CREATION (14/31)

UWF Midsummer Creation
Yokohama Arena, Yokohama
13th August 1989
att. 17000

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.

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.

UWF 21/05/1989 - MAY HISTORY 2ND (11/31)

UWF May History 2nd
NK Hall, Tokyo
21st May 1989
att. 7000

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.

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.