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When Toshiaki Kawada said he wanted to explore new styles in the squared circle, Kazuo Yamazaki was listening. The former NJPW and UWF alum challenged Kawada to a UWF Rules match this Saturday at Korakuen Hall. Yamazaki, one of the trainers at the U-COSMOS Gym, wants to show Kawada just how tough the rule set can be. While Kawada has been known to work a very strong style, Yamazaki explained that the UWF style, the shoot-style, is the purest form of competition in professional wrestling. Yamazaki has been working with some of the younger, more shoot-trained fighters to incorporate more elements of pro-wrestling. He's also been working with rookie Brock Lesnar, helping him to develop a broader skill set which includes more strikes and submissions. U-COSMOS "Fighting Art 2", 8/8/2000 Tokyo Korakuen Hall 1. UWF Rules: Toshiaki Kawada vs. Kazuo Yamazaki 2. Ken Shamrock & Masakatu Funaki vs. Minoru Suzuki & Kazunari Murakami 3. UWF Rules: Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Volk Han

This was pretty dope. Sugiura looked good here - I like the singlet look but he's also throwing Honda around with some impressive throws, his strikes are on point, and he even pulls out a roll-up kneebar, which looked slick. Honda keeps things moving on the ground, with his quick little transitions and set-ups, and gives rookie Sugiura plenty of room to work his amateur style. Good stuff.

Honda's matwork is always a treat, and paired with Ikeda's more rough-and-tumble bati-bati style, it makes for an interesting match-up. I thought the stuff on the ground was the easy highlight, especially some of Honda's transitions. That legwhip to set up the finish was nuts. Of course, Ikeda is going to strike when he's got the opportunity but Honda made him work for it. Probably not as high on it as others but still a very solid match.

I thought this was really good. Kojima busting himself open on the tope was gnarly, as mentioned, but I thought the armwork was great and consistent, with good selling from Sasaki as he tries to survive and battle back with his injured lariat arm. I liked Kojima turning the Tornado Bomb into the armbar, and then catching the lariat attempt only to slam Kensuke's arm into the turnbuckle. Sasaki unable to hit the North Lights Bomb due to his injured arm allows Kojima to spike him with the modified Michinoku Driver in a cool spot. I thought the use of the crab hold to finish off Kojima was weird but the lead up to that, with Sasaki not dying to everything Kojima was dishing out, was compelling.

It is being rumored that the Golden Cups will be making their presence known in U-COSMOS. The original Golden Cups were led by Yoji Anjoh in UWFi and consisted of Yoshihiro Takayama and Kenichi Yamamoto. But according to the source, Takayama will serve as the new leader, bringing in both Yamamoto and another UWFi alum in Hiromitsu Kanehara. It is unknown at this time if the trio will be appearing at Fighting Arts Vol. 2 on Saturday, August 8th.

Kaki and Nagai are a fun feisty underdog team, Yone's a fine punching bag and Kea got some power shine. Kaki hyping the crowd is always a joy, and that smack to set-up the Kaki Cutter on Yone was something else. Perfectly solid tag match, and I hope we get more of the Kaki/Nagai team.

I'll take what we can get but I WISH it was more. What we got was a neat snapshot into what was probably a very fun match. The matwork with Hase tying up Fuchi was good, and then that finish, with Fuchi passing out after trying to give Hase the giant swing was worth checking this out.

Pound for pound, one of the best fighters in mixed martial arts is returning to his wrestling roots this Saturday as Kazushi Sakuraba will make his debut for U-COSMOS. With multiple scandals crumbling the blossoming MMA scene, Sakuraba decided to leave Pride alongside Nobuhiko Takada and others with his integrity intact. Regardless, Sakuraba is excited to return to his hybrid style, and believes U-COSMOS will revitalize the professional wrestling landscape in Japan, and abroad. Speaking with media at a sparring session at the U-COSMOS Gym, Sakuraba revealed that when he met with Takada about joining the new promotion, he had one request for a singles match. With the dissolution of Fighting Network RINGS and Akira Maeda's newfound association with U-COSMOS, Sakuraba asked for his first match to be against who he considered to be one of the best in the world...Volk Han! Sakuraba confirmed that the match would be taking place this Saturday in the main event, under UWF Rules. This will mark the first time these two competitors have come together in the ring and for many, this is considered a "dream match". U-COSMOS "Fighting Art 2", 8/8/2000 Tokyo Korakuen Hall 1. Ken Shamrock & Masakatu Funaki vs. Minoru Suzuki & Kazunari Murakami 2. UWF Rules: Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Volk Han

"The World's Most Dangerous Man" Ken Shamrock issued a response to the unprovoked attack by former friend and colleague, Minoru Suzuki, and his Suzuki-gun. First and foremost, Shamrock said he felt betrayed by the assault, owing to almost 10 years of friendship. Suzuki, who most recently was working in Pancrase, assembled a crew of some of the toughest athletes in Japan prior to "invading" U-COSMOS but Shamrock isn't scared. He said Masakatsu Funaki has his back, and in fact, the two will be teaming together this Saturday when U-COSMOS returns to Korakuen Hall for another installment of Fighting Art. They'll take on Suzuki and Kazunori Murakami under standard tag team rules. Shamrock vowed to extract revenge on Suzuki, and said he dismantle all of Suzuki-gun in order to get his hands on Suzuki one-on-one. U-COSMOS "Fighting Art 2", 8/8/2000 Tokyo Korakuen Hall 1. Ken Shamrock & Masakatsu Funaki vs. Minoru Suzuki & Kazunori Murakami

Mohammed Yone and Mike Awesome is the team I never knew I wanted.

GOOD SHIT!

Akira Maeda and Nobuhiko Takada opened the show with the traditional gallery of the evening’s competing wrestlers, all sporting very dope U-COSMOS track suits. Maeda and Takada thanked the fans in attendance for supporting their vision, and promised an exciting showcase of athleticism. The night opened with Tully Blanchard dressed in a classy suit and tie leading the 2000 NCAA Heavyweight champ, Brock Lesnar, to the ring for his debut match against veteran Naoki Sano. Lesnar’s size and agility played a major factor in the match as he was able to overpower Sano with takedowns and suplex throws. Sano got in a few big kicks, including a rolling solebutt to the gut, and he even managed a nice backdrop suplex. But in the end, Lesnar overwhelmed him and after a big belly-to-belly, Lesnar scored the pinfall with a folding powerbomb. Backstage, Tully hyped up Lesnar's debut and guaranteed Brock would be a dominant force in U-COSMOS. Exciting tag team action followed as Minoru Tanaka and Koji Kanemoto teamed up to take on Shinjiro Ohtani and Masanobu Fuchi. Plenty of back-and-forth action, stiff strikes, and even a signature facewash from Ohtani on Kanemoto. The final few minutes exchanged between Minoru and Fuchi was very good, with some great counters and reversals by the wily Fuchi until Minoru was able to snag the jujigatame for the submission victory. Under UWF Rules, Alexander Otsuka and Mitsuya Nagai put on a hard-hitting match with plenty of nasty knee strikes and mid kicks from Nagai and Otsuka doing what Otsuka does best – SUPLEXING! Nagai was able to survive a release German suplex, getting back to his feet at the count of 8 but the follow up dragon suplex throw was enough for the KO, earning Otsuka his first win in U-COSMOS. Prior to his tag match, Kensuke Sasaki said that he thought Takehiro Murahama would be a breakout rookie in Japan, and would back him fully as he picked up more experience in the promotion. Likewise, Yuji Nagata teamed with a rookie of his own in Katsuyori Shibata. Both Murahama and Shibata looked very polished in the ring, with Murahama showing a little bit more in regards to his versatility. He took out Shibata with a dive to the outside, utilized plenty of strong kicks and nifty takedowns, and tried to end the match with a brainbuster, which was countered by Shibata into a guillotine choke. While the rookies got more time to shine, Sasaki and Nagata didn’t leave fans disappointed with their exchanges. Sasaki was able to turn Shibata inside out with a lariat to finish the match. Submission wrestler, Carl Malenko, was put to task against Kiyoshi Tamura under UWF Rules. The two put on a mat-based clinic and while Tamura seemed to have the upper hand throughout, Malenko kept pace with Tamura managed to counter many of Tamura’s early attempts. Malenko sent Tamura scrambling to the ropes with a front necklock, and nearly had Tamura’s number with an arm triangle choke. Tamura, however, was able to escape the hold and turn the tables on Malenko with a double wristlock. The two shook hands after the match in a mutual show of respect. Fans were treated to a big tag team match in the semi-main event, with the former AJPW favorites, Toshiaki Kawada and Jun Akiyama, teaming together against Shinya Hashimoto and Hiroshi Hase. Hase, who hasn’t been as active of late due his political obligations, didn’t hold back when he squared off against Akiyama, laying into him with some big open hand slaps to the face. The fans, however, were ecstatic with the initial interaction between Kawada and Hashimoto. They beat the snot out of each other, and even after the match, following Akiyama pinning Hase with the wrist-clutch Exploder, the two couldn’t keep their hands off of one another, and had to be pulled apart. Backstage, Kawada said that Hashimoto’s pride would be his downfall, and warned him to keep his distance unless he wanted a fight. The main event didn’t disappoint…well, that is, until the end, but prior to that, Ken Shamrock and Masakatsu Funaki put on a hell of a fight. Funaki isn’t quite in the same shape he once was but he didn’t let Shamrock’s size and strength overcome him . His kicks were on point, and his groundwork was slick, as he managed to take Shamrock to the ropes quite a few times. Shamrock, on the other hand, worked a style reminiscent of his days in PWFG, taking Funaki with some nasty suplex throws and working his ankle over to set up his signature ankle hold submission. At one point, he tried for a full nelson suplex but Funaki was able to slip out and roll Shamrock up into a kneebar. Shamrock countered that into the ankle hold but as he was struggling for the ropes, the match was interrupted by…Minoru Suzuki! Suzuki, a former companion of both Funaki and Shamrock in PWFG and Pancrase, slid into the ring. As the referee tried to intervene, Suzuki slapped him down and the match was thrown out. Both Shamrock and Funaki confronted Suzuki, who grinned widely, opening his arms as if in a welcoming embrace. Suddenly, Shamrock and Funaki were attacked from behind by Kazunari Murakami, Kazuyuki Fujita and Daisuke Ikeda. Suzuki than joining in on the beatdown and ended the assault with a Gotch-style piledriver on Shamrock. Suzuki grabbed a microphone, declaring the arrival of the Suzuki Army as the fans booed him to close out the show. U-COSMOS "Fighting Art", 1/8/2000 Tokyo Korakuen Hall 2,000 Fans – Super No Vacancy Full House 1. Brock Lesnar (w/ Tully Blanchard) beat Naoki Sano (9:58) with a folding powerbomb. 2. Minoru Tanaka & Koji Kanemoto beat Shinjiro Ohtani & Masanobu Fuchi (12:07) when Tanaka used a cross armbar on Fuchi. 3. UWF Rules: Alexander Otsuka beat Mitsuya Nagai (7:50) by KO (dragon suplex). 4. Kensuke Sasaki & Takehiro Murahama beat Yuji Nagata & Katsuyori Shibata (10:26) when Sasaki used a lariat on Shibata. 5. UWF Rules: Kiyoshi Tamura beat Carl Malenko (9:19) with a double wristlock. 6. Jun Akiyama & Toshiaki Kawada beat Shinya Hashimoto & Hiroshi Hase (16:40) when Akiyama used a wrist-clutch Exploder on Hase. 7. UWF Rules: Ken Shamrock vs. Masakatsu Funaki – No Contest (14:23)

Tully Blanchard arrived in Tokyo earlier this morning, accompanied by none other than the 2000 NCAA Heavyweight Wrestling Champion, Brock Lesnar. Reporters at Haneda Airport caught up with Tully to ask about his involvement with U-COSMOS and his relationship with Lesnar. Tully said that while he won't be competing in U-COSMOS as an active wrestler, he will be managing Lesnar and mentoring him as he embarks on his first professional wrestling venture. In addition, Tully said he would be working with co-owners Akira Maeda and Nobuhiko Takada to help globally expand the company's brand, especially in regards to working events in the United States and new talent acquisition. Blanchard revealed that Lesnar would be making his debut on Saturday, in a singles match against Naoki Sano. When Lesnar was directly asked a question regarding his experience, Tully intercepted the question and said that Lesnar would be ready for Sano this weekend. U-COSMOS "Fighting Art", 1/8/2000 Tokyo Korakuen Hall Brock Lesnar vs. Naoki Sano Toshiaki Kawada & Jun Akiyama vs. Shinya Hashimoto & Hiroshi Hase UWF Rules: Masakatsu Funaki vs. Ken Shamrock

With the big announcement of U-COSMOS yesterday, Japanese fans and media have been buzzing with anticipation for the new promotion. With the dissolution of several major promotions only a couple of months ago, the pro-wrestling landscape in Japan had been razed. While some of the bigger names have traveled west to try their luck abroad, others vowed to remain in Japan in order to help re-build the industry. One such wrestler is veteran Toshiaki Kawada, who spoke to the press earlier today regarding his decision to sign with U-COSMOS. Kawada said that both he and Jun Akiyama resigned from AJPW prior to the promotion's collapse but when approached by Nobuhiko Takada and Akira Maeda regarding their vision, Kawada was intrigued. He admired the original UWF pioneers as a young boy and is now at an age where he wants to explore new styles in the ring. Once he and Akiyama came to an agreement, they immediately began training at the converted Fighting Network RINGS gym (now the U-COSMOS Gym) to adapt their styles to the new influx of wrestlers and fighters. Kawada said his fighting spirit is motivated once again and he vows to bring his very best as he makes his debut this Saturday, August 1st, in tag team competition. Kawada announced that he and Akiyama would be teaming together against Shinya Hashimoto and Hiroshi Hase under traditional tag team rules. When asked if he would be competing for the previously announced U-COSMOS Crown, Kawada said if he earned the opportunity, he would seize it. He thanks the fans and invited everyone to the debut show at Korakuen Hall. U-COSMOS "Fighting Art", 1/8/2000 Tokyo Korakuen Hall Toshiaki Kawada & Jun Akiyama vs. Shinya Hashimoto & Hiroshi Hase UWF Rules: Masakatsu Funaki vs. Ken Shamrock

At a press conference outside their offices in Tokyo, Japan, Nobuhiko Takada and Akira Maeda came together to announce the formation of U-COSMOS, the spiritual successor to the UWF. In many ways, U-COSMOS will keep the traditions of the UWF alive and well, while at the same time, embracing the modern evolution of professional wrestling. Under traditional "pro-wres" rules, a match can be won by scoring a fall by pinning an opponent's shoulders to the mat for a count of three, a submission victory, a ten count knockout, or via countout (twenty count). A wrestler is given one warning for breaking the rules (yellow card) and repeat offenders will be disqualified (red card). Under "UWF Rules", a match can be won by a ten count knockout, total knockout, or submission only. Open handed strikes to the head are allowed; however, closed fist punches are prohibited. The use of a closed fist punch or illegal hold will result in a warning (yellow card), followed by disqualification (red card) for a second offense. Exiting the ring will result in a warning (yellow card) followed by disqualification (red card) if the wrestler re-exits the ring, or does not return to the ring after a ten count. Each wrestler is given a total of three ropes breaks. After a wrestler exhausts his rope breaks, submissions under the ropes by the opponent are considered legal. When discussing talent, Takada said that U-COSMOS will bring together athletes from across Japan and abroad, from both the worlds of pro-wrestling and MMA. Talent announced include Toshiaki Kawada, Jun Akiyama, Kiyoshi Tamura, Shinya Hashimoto, and Yoshiaki Fujiwara. Takada also indicated that they had signed the 2000 NCAA Heavyweight Champion, Brock Lesnar, who he believed would make a big impact in Japan. The promotion has already secured a television deal with Fighting TV Samurai, with the first live show, "Fighting Art", scheduled to broadcast from Korakuen Hall on Saturday, August 1, 2000. The main event was revealed for the show and will see Masakatsu Funaki in his first match since leaving Pancrase, wrestling the "World's Most Dangerous Man", Ken Shamrock, under UWF Rules. This marks Shamrock's return to Japan and will be a reunion of sorts between Shamrock and Funaki, who both competed against each other in PWFG and Pancrase. In addition, Maeda announced that they had come to an agreement with one of the hottest fighters in Pride Fighting Championships, Kazushi Sakuraba! Sakuraba will make his in-ring debut for U-COSMOS on August 12th against a "mystery" opponent. Maeda teased that Sakuraba had yet to face this mysterious opponent in any form of competition. In regards to a top promotion title, Takada did say that they plan on implementing an openweight title, dubbed the U-COSMOS Crown, and while a tournament is likely to take place, Takada said it will not happen until September at the earliest. But it was revealed that the title will and can be defended under both sets of rules. In closing, Maeda was proud to announce that they would be holding future events in Seoul, South Korea. No dates have been announced for the Seoul debut but Maeda said it would be a special celebration. Takada and Maeda thanked those in attendance, and jokingly promised to put aside any former grievances in order to work together to produce the best wrestling in Japan. U-COSMOS "Fighting Art", 1/8/2000 Tokyo Korakuen Hall UWF Rules: Masakatsu Funaki vs. Ken Shamrock

Probably the third best match of an otherwise disappointing night, with a hot opening exchange between Tamura and Anjo. Tamura's armbar counter out of nowhere was slick as hell but Anjo is quick to re-counter. The stuff between Anjo and Severn was also entertaining, as it seemed like Anjo wanted nothing to do with him. But that led to some stiff work from Anjo, both on the ground and standing up, where he popped Severn's nose like a tick with an open palm strike. Loved the moment where they both nearly tumble out of the ring, getting tied up in the ropes. Nelson didn't do much at all except get suplexed by Severn and struggle on the mat. Severn basically chokeslamming him to set up the single leg crab was a big highlight. Tamura taps out Nelson with the choke, despite Nelson's best efforts to counter out. Good stuff from three of the four involved.

Another disappointment - again, like many of Takada's opponents, Zangiev seems to be holding back against Takada, whose big highlight includes rocking Zangiev silly with kicks. Sure, Zangiev threw a suplex and got cute with the armbar escape, but didn't get much shine before tapping out to a crossface hold.

A perfectly decent competitive match-up but not much more than that. Kakihara avoiding and blocking Lydick's suplex attempts was the storyline, and while Lydick got a close call with a double wristlock, it isn't until the end of the match that he finally hits the German suplex. It's not enough but when he tries to double-dip, Kakihara countered with the kneebar for the DRAMATIC tap out.

Another whatever match. Berkovich delivers one of the most pathetic looking German suplexes but he does offset it with a couple of good-looking throws. But he's pretty awkward throughout, and Sano finally wins It with the backdrop into the armbar.

Pretty boring match, sadly. Highlights include Miyato’s backdrop suplex and of course, Nakano’s greatest snap suplex. Nakano stuffs him with a knee but ends up tapping to Miyato’s armbar. Meh.

Winless Mark Silver rocks a very sick windbreaker but he's still sloppy and winless for a reason. He throws his weight around, lands a couple of big hands, but also takes a boot to the nuts. Cool finish with Saku blasting Silver repeatedly in the back to set up the single leg crab. Not much else.

Considering the amount of punishment both guys dulled out for 15 of the 20 minutes, I thought they kept up the intensity for the duration. Sure, Takayama slowed down and was obviously struggling to do anything on the mat but the matwork was secondary. The stand-up portions were the obvious highlights -- some very brutal strikes thrown by both guys but Kanehara's high kicks looked really terrific here, especially given Takayama's height. And some of his reflex shots - yowzers. Takayama gets busted open but dishes it back out with the big knees and catcher's mitt slaps. Kanehara struggling for the armbar added a little drama on the ground but it never had the space to develop into anything substantial. This was literally an extended "who can hit harder?" contest, and yeah, it ruled. Tons of fire.

This has to be one of Gary's best singles performances in UWFi but it helps when your dance partner is Kiyoshi Tamura. Despite Tamura's presence, this still had some slower moments but Gary was definitely trying more on the mat than he has before. And the drama really bubbled to the finish. All of the suplex teases were well done, and Tamura's close calls with the armbars added tons to this. I mean, it's over 10 minutes before Gary hits his first suplex. Loved Tamura's enziguri counter, and him consistently slipping through Albright's fingers as he tries to set him up for the dragon suplex. One of my favorite parts of the match is when Gary nonchalantly slaps Tamura while he's got him on the ground, and Tamura responds with fire and sends Gary to the ropes. But that only pisses off Gary, who hits the belly-to-belly to set up another dragon suplex attempt, which Tamura is able to block...but not before Gary hits the back-to-back Germans to finish him off.

Berkovich was a non-factor in this but that being said, Zangiev continues to rule, and his exchanges with both Sano and Anjo were easy highlights. Him sliding in with the leg trip to set up the Sharpshooter was dope, and then when Sano tries to break out of the full nelson, Zangiev accordions him with a German suplex. Anjo was EXTRA shitty during the finishing stretch, where he just lays into Zangiev with knees and slaps and clocks him with a high kick to the cheekbone for the KO. What a finish. Not a great tag by any means but this made me really want to see a singles match between Sano and Zangiev.

This had that old-school UWF feel to it, as both guys were methodical and prideful, and extra snappy with their strikes. Nakano catching the high kick early on was a cool moment, which led to some nasty knees from Yamazaki and some dirty open hands by Nakano. The slower moments of the match were there but it paid off with the finish. Loved the fact that Kazuo escapes the rolling German attempt by throwing himself through the ropes. Great finish, too, with Yamazaki blocking the snap suplex with authority, enziguri'ing the kick counter, and grabbing onto the calf hold for the submission. Good stuff!