Control21

UWF Newborn – “The Professional Bout” August 22nd, 1988 Ariake Coliseum Tokyo, Japan Attendance: 12,000 (sold out) All eighteen competitors are introduced, with the crowd giving a warm welcome to the newcomers, and thunderous cheers for both Maeda and Takada, and perhaps even a louder one for Sayama. Maeda grabs the microphone and thanks the crowd for coming, and says that tonight's event is both historic and proof that UWF is here to stay. Takada thanks the fans as well and promises a great event. Finally, Sayama takes the microphone to even more cheers and says that he is happy to be back in the ring and will give it his all. "Thank you all for coming, please keep supporting us as we take UWF to new heights. Tonight, Shooto and UWF collide!" Minoru Suzuki vs Masakatsu Funaki This was a very even contest from the start. Neither Funaki nor Suzuki had the advantage for the first 7 minutes or so of the match, with it being almost exclusively grappling on the canvas. Both were quick with their counterwork and transitions, avoiding any serious submission attempts from their opponent and keeping each other busy, working for a dominant position. We see more of a stand-up game between these around the 10-minute mark, with both scoring a knockdown each as they start delivering hard palm strikes. With the score tied at 1-1, the match opens up a bit more on the canvas as they head for another round of grappling. Funaki grows more confident and bolder as time wears on, sending Suzuki scrambling for two rope breaks by the 13:00 mark. At 2-1, Suzuki knows he needs to close the gap and the crowd is lively as they head into the finishing stretch with Suzuki trying to get Funaki on the back foot. Funaki catches Suzuki as he attempts a double-leg takedown and manages to find Suzuki’s arm from a north-south position for a kimura lock! Funaki keeps Suzuki some distance from the ropes and Funaki scores the victory via submission. Funaki defeats Suzuki via submission (kimura), 16:11. Wayne Shamrock vs Yasuto Sekishima Wayne Shamrock finally makes his debut for UWF and his opponent is another debuting wrestler, who is from Sayama’s Shooto gym. Yasuto Sekishima is smaller in frame compared to Wayne Shamrock, who isn’t quite built like a Greek god yet but still has muscle on a leaner Sekishima. Shamrock quickly finds out that size isn’t exactly holding his opponent back as Sekishima shows off some snappy kicks and sharp palm strikes that he learned in Shooto, and his length helps him keep Shamrock at a safe distance despite the size differential. Shamrock takes a few minutes to adjust to his unknown opponent, preferring to play a conservative defense as he weathers the striking storm. Shamrock manages to lull Sekishima to the canvas as he manages to grab his arm for a wristlock. Sekishima responds by attempting a slick leg takedown on Shamrock but the North American grappler avoids any serious setbacks. Sekishima shows off some very cool grappling counterwork and transition work, showing his quickness and giving Shamrock all sorts of trouble as he makes Shamrock work to avoid giving off any openings. This becomes a very fun match as Shamrock and Sekishima go to work with the grappling, giving each other fits in their unique ways. Sekishima with his quickness and athleticism, and Shamrock with his size advantage and strength. The points stand at 2-2 around the 11:00 mark as each uses two rope breaks in an exciting grappling duel on the canvas. The two stand back up and we get another extended striking exchange, this time with Shamrock showing off his strength with his palm strikes. Sekishima attempts some nice kicks and even tries a rolling high kick which Shamrock avoids. This gives Shamrock the opening to snag Sekishima into a Dragon Suplex! The power of the suplex dazes Sekishima and Shamrock takes him down and locks in a heel hook as Sekishima scrambles for the ropes on his stomach. Shamrock keeps him from reaching the ropes and Sekishima taps! Shamrock defeats Sekishima via submission (heel hook), 13:37 Erik Paulson vs Yorinaga Nakamura Another set of new debutants for UWF. Yorinaga Nakamura comes in with some mystique, and Erik Paulson is eager to prove himself. Paulson, like Sekishima, has a bit of a smaller frame compared to Nakamura but uses that to his advantage by being quicker. Nakamura isn’t afraid to close the distance though, knowing Paulson’s style inside and out from the Shooto gym. As with the previous match, this turns out to be quite fun with Paulson showing off his slick grappling abilities, while Nakamura shows off some very cool tricks of his while countering most of what Paulson throws at him. Paulson is perhaps too eager, as Nakamura controls the first 5 minutes of the match easily, sending Paulson to the ropes twice as he threatens to get a submission. It’s a similar story with the stand-up, as Nakamura isn’t afraid to stand toe-to-toe with Paulson and sends the younger Shooto student to the mat with some stiff palm strikes. 2-0 up, Nakamura finishes the match quite stylishly by hooking Paulson’s leg after a clinch, and he rolls with Paulson into a “banana split” position, hooking both of Paulson’s legs for the submission victory. The crowd was very pleased by that display of grappling prowess from Nakamura. Nakamura defeats Paulson via submission (banana split), 10:52 Tatsuo Nakano vs Yoji Anjo A fiery contest between two of the younger roster members on UWF looking to establish themselves more. Anjo is looking for his first win. If you like palm strikes and kicks, this match had a whole lot of them. Nakano tries using his size advantage to control most of the match, but Anjo proves to be learning the secrets of grappling waza on the canvas. This ends up pretty even at about 3-3, rope breaks and knockdowns both, as it heads into the 15:00 mark, with the crowd torn between the two. Anjo gets Nakano to the canvas again after scoring a nice German suplex. Anjo grabs Nakano’s legs for a Boston Crab and locks it in pretty tight in the center of the ring. Nakano tries to get to the ropes but he is forced to tap as his energy dwindles. Anjo gets his first win in UWF! Anjo defeats Nakano via submission (Boston Crab), 15:57 Osamu Kido vs Norman Smiley Norman Smiley makes his debut in UWF after spending several weeks in Florida, training with Karl Gotch and Bart Vale. This proves to pay off as Norman Smiley shows off his athleticism and conditioning against Osamu Kido, applying various techniques learned over the past month. Kido does prove to be a worthy opponent though, and controls the first 7:00 of the match, keeping Smiley from posing any serious threat. Kido isn’t as quick but does show great grappling defense and counterwork on the canvas, making Smiley work for any advantage. As the match wears on, Smiley grows bolder and starts to show off some great striking techniques, particularly some low kicks that cause Kido to slow down and grimace in pain. Smiley scores a knockdown here. Kido manages to score two knockdowns and makes Smiley go for the ropes twice, giving him a 3-1 advantage as the match heads into the 15:00 mark. Norman Smiley wows the crowd with a flying armbar as he locks in Kido with some nice wrist control! He takes Kido down to the mat, and with his arm locked in tight, Kido taps almost immediately. Even with the decisive loss, Kido congratulates Smiley after the match and pays his respects to another student of Karl Gotch. Smiley defeats Kido via submission (flying armbar), 16:04 Ryuma Go vs Yoshiaki Fujiwara A relatively quick and brutal match that sees Ryuma Go continue his tremendous fighting form. Fujiwara responds in kind as the two exchange some brutal palm strikes. Go’s low kicks are just as powerful, which sends Fujiwara reeling. By the 5:00 mark, we already see two knockdowns apiece as they do not relent with the pace or striking power. Not much grappling in this match, although they do test each other on the canvas twice briefly where Fujiwara has the clear advantage. If Fujiwara is tested enough, he unleashes the headbutts. Go makes the mistake of clinching with Fujiwara, and Fujiwara delivers some sharp headbutts as a response. Go falls to the canvas with a bloody nose and fails to get up by the count of 10. Fujiwara is your winner! The crowd very much enjoyed this despite its briefness. Fujiwara defeats Ryuma Go via KO, 9:41 Nobuhiko Takada vs Chris Dolman This proves to be a very interesting matchup as Chris Dolman, debuting for UWF, comes out wearing a traditional red SAMBO gi with blue sweats. Dolman is both a judoka and sambist by training. Takada forgoes the gi as expected and only dons his black tights and kick pads. Dolman proves tough to handle at first, using his stocky frame and strength to show off a few nicely executed throws, influenced by both his training in Judo and SAMBO. This catches Takada by surprise and he appears to struggle with Dolman’s willingness to close the distance and clinch with his opponent. Takada’s kicks don’t deter Dolman much as he gets Takada to the canvas again with a sweeping leg takedown. Here we see Dolman’s grappling come into play a bit more. Dolman isn’t as quick as Takada might be, but his ability to keep Takada from using much defense with his tight holds and good positioning makes Takada use his first two rope breaks by the 6:00 zone. Takada re-adjusts and tries to keep his distance from Dolman better, making more use of his kicks and better reach to make Dolman work for another takedown. Dolman does manage to get off a nice Ippon-seoi-nage on Takada, which causes Dolman’s opponent to stay down long enough to get the referee to call for a count. The final two minutes of the match see Takada take the initiative and throw some tremendous kicks and even hits a rolling high kick on Dolman. This causes Dolman to go down for his first count and he appears to be a bit dazed. He tries to get up by the count of 10 but the referee calls for the bell. Dolman appears a little confused as he argues he got up in time but the referee raises his fists as a gesture, suggesting that Dolman needed a better signal. With that said, Dolman and Takada shake hands and bow to each other. The fans show their appreciation for both and Dolman certainly got them going with his nice throwing techniques. Takada beats Dolman via KO, 11:55 Satoru Sayama vs Kazuo Yamazaki The long-awaited return of Satoru Sayama to the squared circle proves to be a success. The clash between Sayama and his former student delivers, with Sayama showing off his sharp striking abilities and demonstrating he hasn’t missed a beat. Yamazaki responds in kind, but Sayama feels motivated and keeps the pressure on. On the grappling side, the two test their mantle on the canvas early, and while Yamazaki is the quicker of the two, Sayama’a defense and counterwork prove to be very good, and he mostly keeps Yamazaki at bay, controlling the early battle. Sayama’s ability to pull guard and exploit his opponent’s openings frustrates Yamazaki. The match continues to be both even and exciting, as the striking game resumes and Sayama begins to show off his old style, landing smooth jumping kicks. They both score a knockdown on each other by the 10:00 mark, makings things even at 1-1. By the 15:00 mark, Sayama’s strength on the mat comes into play and Yamazaki is forced two use two rope breaks in due course. At 2-1, the pace of the match does not let up, as they continue to trade battles with the stand-up and grappling. Yamazaki and Sayama make things even at 3-3 by the 20:00 mark, with Sayama scoring another knockdown before Yamazaki has a brief period of great offense, which causes Sayama to lose his footing twice. Regardless, Sayama keeps his cool and catches one of Yamazaki’s low kicks, converting it into a single-leg takedown and then locking in a kneebar. Yamazaki attempts a brief leg lock battle, but Sayama’s experience pays off and he eventually snags the leg just enough to force Yamazaki to tap. The fans cheer for Sayama quite loudly as he is announced the victor, and Yamazaki pays his respects to his former teacher. Sayama defeats Yamazaki via submission (kneebar), 23:27 Akira Maeda vs Dick Vrij Maeda comes out to Camel’s “Captured” with a rapturous crowd providing the background noise with “M-AE-DA!” timed to the music. Maeda’s opponent tonight is a bit of an unknown, but as soon as Dick Vrij comes out, the crowd recognizes he means business. The Dutchman with somewhat extravagantly dyed hair and long black tights is almost built like the Terminator, and certainly stands as an imposing figure, at least one worthy enough to be in the same ring as Maeda. Vrij is billed as a kickboxer by the announcer, and he quickly proves the danger he poses as the match gets underway. His strong, sharp kicks and well-timed palm strikes immediately pose a challenge for Maeda. The crowd is molten hot for this match, as they urge Maeda on against the Dutchman, who is almost cyborg-like in his approach. Maeda tries to use his reach to keep Vrij at bay, but Vrij just keeps coming, with low kicks that audibly connect in the Ariake Coliseum. Maeda winces, certainly feeling the power of those kicks. As the minutes begin to add on, Maeda grows bolder, beginning to take the initiative and landing some nice combos on his opponent, something Vrij hasn’t been able to do quite yet. Vrij quickly shakes it off though, and the two resume their striking battle before Maeda gets Vrij with a double-leg takedown. Maeda tests Vrij’s grappling mantle for the first time on the canvas. While Maeda is the better grappler, Vrij’s defense is decent enough, and he avoids any serious mistakes but is forced to go for his first rope break after Maeda tries for a leg lock. At the 10:00 mark, Maeda gets his first knockdown as he lands another combo with some swift palm strikes, and backs Vrij into a corner, using that advantageous position to deliver some knee strikes into Vrij’s abdomen. Vrij falls for the first time and the referee starts the count. Vrij doesn’t take long and responds by the count of five. Vrij comes firing back, taking some swipes at Maeda’s face and backing Maeda into a corner of his own. Vrij puts the heat on and sneaks in a knee right to Maeda’s face. Maeda responds to a ten count of his own in a timely fashion as well. Maeda soon gets his opponent back to the canvas in response, this time using a nice belly-to-belly takedown to establish side control on Vrij, immediately trying to work for an ude-garami (americana) on Vrij. This is enough to force the Dutchman to use a second rope break. At 2-1, the two continue to pick up the pace. At around the 15:00 mark, Maeda attempts a rolling roundhouse after locking in Vrij’s wrist for control, but Vrij manages to dodge. Maeda ends up landing on the other side of the ring after the roll, and Vrij immediately pounces with somewhat of a shoot Shining Wizard into Maeda’s abdomen. This gets the crowd going, and Maeda feels the level of his support as the referee calls for another count. 2-2 now as Maeda responds by the count of seven. As the two face off once again, the level of striking continues to be very good, and Maeda soon scores another knockdown to make it 3-2. (for visualization!) As the match reaches its climax, Vrij comes swinging with some vicious high kicks, and Maeda looks to be on the back foot and in danger. But Maeda catches one of them and sends Vrij back down into the canvas, the swelling with every move as Maeda looks to lock in an ankle lock at first, but then switches into a single-leg Boston crab! Maeda locks this one in tight and the Dutchman taps in due course. As expected, the crowd cheers loudly for Maeda’s win and certainly for the great main event they just received as well. Maeda defeats Vrij via submission (single-leg Boston crab), 21:22 12,000 fans make their adoration for Maeda known as he celebrates in the ring. He comes over and shakes hands with Dick Vrij before they have one final stare-off. These two will probably meet again sometime down the line. Shinji Jin enters the ring and awards Maeda a large golden trophy as a gesture of appreciation. Maeda takes the microphone and asks everyone to give a round of applause for tonight's event and Dolman's crew. He says that UWF will grow internationally and that Dolman and Free Fight Holland have established the foundation for that. Maeda also thanks Sayama for agreeing to return to the ring and that he looks forward to facing him again in the future. Maeda, exhausted, thanks the fans once again before being helped backstage, passing through the adoring crowd.

Yeah, Smiley is really underrated. He also had a great career in CMLL as Black Magic during the early 1990s.

Quite an interesting episode heading into the big card for Winnipeg. Boris Zhukov vs Nikita Koloff should be an interesting clash. I also love the idea of Buzz Sawyer vs Carlos Colon.

The main event had a few twists and turns but it certainly delivered. Impressive showing by Goto and Abdullah the Butcher. Will be interesting to see how much of a force they become in WCW with the other powerhouses in the promotion.

That Summerslam card looks great! Kevin von Erich vs Great Muta is certainly one I'm looking forward to. Also will be interesting to see how quickly The Rockers can climb the tag team ladder in their new promotion.

Sad to see IPW go (although I can't wait to see what is next!). I thought it had a very unique flavor and this final episode certainly closed things out in the same manner. Great job overall!

That's a good way to introduce the new NWA! The Shane Douglas vs Piper feud promises to be a blockbuster. Pillman introduces himself in a predictable yet compelling way. RVD vs Chris Jericho might become the mainstay of what the NWA of the 1990s is all about. I love all the detail you put into this. Good stuff all around!

Agreed, that was really good! Good to see all the characters in W*ING come to life. You really captured Onita well. Enjoyed the main event especially. Can't wait to see Aja Kong vs Megumi Kudo down the line.

Card Announcement: UWF Newborn - "The Professional Bout" August 22nd, 1988 Ariake Coliseum Tokyo, Japan Minoru Suzuki vs Masakatsu Funaki Wayne Shamrock vs Yasuto Sekishima Erik Paulson vs Yorinaga Nakamura Tatsuo Nakano vs Yoji Anjo Osamu Kido vs Norman Smiley Ryuma Go vs Yoshiaki Fujiwara Nobuhiko Takada vs Chris Dolman Satoru Sayama vs Kazuo Yamazaki Akira Maeda vs Dick Vrij

First show looks great! The trios match sounds very tasty on paper. Lots of interesting teams in the trios battle royal as well. The Turbo Violence tournament is looking quite nice too.

At this stage, RINGS doesn't have any championships outside of the Mega Battle Tournament winner, who was more or less considered the top guy in RINGS for the year. In 1998, the winner of that tournament (Tamura) was awarded the RINGS Openweight Title, which was then defended off and on. I plan on introducing some titles a bit earlier, but I'm still hammering out the way I want to go about it. RINGS in 1996 was about 70-80% worked matches, with the rest being shoots or worked shoots like Tamura vs Yamamoto in December 1996. I don't think BattlArts had that many shoots, especially in 1996. I'd say it is safe to imagine my matches being worked unless I indicate otherwise.

Great way to start things with Ric Flair vs Lex Luger! And an impressive debut by Ron Simmons. Excited to see where things go as the new WCW develops.

Great event from top to bottom. I imagine a lot of people watching USA Network would have thoroughly enjoyed this. Road Warriors vs Beasts of Burden sounded like a show-stealer. Junkyard Dog was robbed! Maybe next time... Starrcade Series sounds great with those block lineups.

Card Announcement: Fighting Network RINGS - "Maelstrom VI" August 24th, 1996 Ariake Coliseum Tokyo, Japan Willie Peeters vs Wataru Sakata Masayuki Naruse vs Egan Inoue Bitsadze Tariel vs Yoshihiro Takayama Mitsuya Nagai vs Dick Vrij Kiyoshi Tamura vs Maurice Smith Adilson Lima vs Mikhail Ilyukhin Volk Han vs Tsuyoshi Kohsaka Yoshihisa Yamamoto vs Ricardo Morais

Thanks! I figured it would be a good way to explain all the pieces that are moving and introduce Sayama and his motivations for coming back. I'm trying to roll things out bit by bit so I can look forward to introducing new wrestlers every month and give decent backstories to how certain people may be returning or arriving on the scene. As for this hobby...well, in terms of wrestling in general, my first exposure to it was probably watching Lucha Libre tapes as a kid. One of my parents lived in New Mexico and you could find a whole bunch of them at swap meets and stuff like that. I got into WWF shortly afterward. I could go on all day about my evolution as a wrestling fan, but I would say guys like Blue Panther and Bret Hart laid the foundations for my appreciation of technical wrestling. That probably led me to shoot-style, which I really got into several years ago. Promotions like UWF Newborn and RINGS really appealed to my personal tastes and how I would envision my ideal version of professional wrestling. In terms of fantasy booking, I was browsing this forum and realized DoW was in 1988, which was right when UWF 2.0 takes off. I needed a creative outlet, so I figured I would take the opportunity to write about my favorite type of wrestling. I actually haven't really done this before.

UWF Newborn Special Press Conference August 14th, 1988 (assume all comments are translated) Reporters quickly gather in the press room and get their cameras ready as the “two-minute warning” is given. The cameras quickly get to work as Satoru Sayama and Shinji Jin come out, nicely dressed in tailored suits. They sit down as the sound of cameras snapping photos fills the room. Shinji Jin: I would like to thank everyone for being here today. This is a special day not only for UWF but for wrestling as a sport. I am incredibly honored to be joined by Satoru Sayama today. Satoru Sayama is widely regarded as one of the best to ever grace the ring, and he has continually innovated himself and the industry as a whole. We are very pleased to announce today that Satoru Sayama will be joining UWF to present his new vision of fighting to the world. As you may know, Sayama is currently the president of Shooto, an organization that is focused on producing a modern approach to combat sports. As part of our deal with Mr. Sayama, some other renowned individuals from Mr. Sayama’s organization will be joining UWF as well. We will also promote Shooto through other means, such as through our programs and promotional material. Again, we are very pleased to announce Satoru Sayama is now an active wrestler for us. I will now let Mr. Sayama speak. Satoru Sayama: Thank you, Mr. Jin. It is an honor to join you today and have the opportunity to rejoin the world of combat sports. I say combat sports because I not only believe in my work with Shooto, but I also believe that UWF represents wrestling as a real sport. Mr. Jin has done an incredible job to revitalize the UWF idea and make its vision a reality once again. With that said, I am also very eager to present my ideas that will make this vision even stronger. Mr. Jin was very kind to meet me in private, without anyone else, and any press. He listened to my ideas and desires very thoroughly. Mr. Jin presented a very interesting and fair offer. With the support of Mr. Jin and UWF, I felt that I could improve as a wrestler and fighter and that my fellows in Shooto would benefit as well. I am sure in time the Shooto way of fighting will prove to be the strongest in UWF. I know that you will have many questions for me, as I have not been entirely public over the past few years. Please keep in mind that I will be fully honest with my answers. Thank you. Reporters rush to get their questions out, and the UWF media representative slowly gets to them one by one. Reporter #1: Mr. Sayama, you left professional wrestling in 1985 after a confrontation with Mr. Maeda. Have you spoken to Mr. Maeda at all? What did you say to him? Sayama: I have not spoken with Mr. Maeda, and I do not feel the need to. I am sure in time we will cross paths. But for now, it is not something that is required. Mr. Jin assured me that there would be no issues, and I do not think this deal would be possible with the objection of Mr. Maeda. Reporter #2: Do you have any regrets about writing your book a few years ago? Many have said that it exposed professional wrestling and harmed its reputation. Sayama: I do not have any regrets. I am sorry if certain people felt offended by my book, but I wanted to speak truthfully about professional wrestling. As I stated earlier, I do not view UWF as professional wrestling. In my eyes, it is real wrestling. I think the fans understand this difference as well. I do not think there will be any problems. Reporter #3: You have not wrestled in three years. The last time we saw you in the ring, you were yourself. While another Tiger Mask has popped up in All Japan Pro Wrestling, people have had a hard time accepting it. Is Tiger Mask dead? Sayama: I had many great memories wrestling as Tiger Mask. It was an honor to inspire so many with that mask. Tiger Mask will always be with me, but I want to move on. I believe I can inspire so many more as myself. I have great respect for Mr. Baba and I understand business, but their Tiger Mask is a different one. I apologize. As far as I know, Tiger Mask is no more. I have done my work in Shooto with the belief that I can be recognized by changing the world of combat sports without the mask. Reporter #4: Can you speak more about your work with Shooto and how you envision your approach in UWF? Sayama: Yes, of course. I know it’s been difficult for the press to access my Shooto events, but I did not trust the media to cover it. I believe Japanese combat sports media is still dominated by those who respect their connections with professional wrestling promotions. I apologize again for offending anyone, but I think there was a reason why my departure from professional wrestling was criticized, and that’s also why my book was widely criticized. In any case, Shooto is combing the art form of kickboxing, Japanese jiu-jitsu, and catch wrestling. As some who have attended my events can attest, it is a modern form of fighting I believe it can become the top fighting style in combat sports. I will carry that style into UWF, along with my fellows in Shooto. Some murmurs and audible comments can be heard from the press, and another reporter is picked out to ask a question. Reporter #5: Can you tell us more about who will be joining you? Sayama: I am very pleased to say that my former student and now a teacher at Shooto, Yorinaga Nakamura, will be joining me. As you may know, Mr. Nakamura is a talented catch wrestler who has traveled the world teaching the art form and learning other fighting styles. He is also the winner of the first Shooto event I held in 1986. Mr. Nakamura’s most prized student, Erik Paulson, will also be joining us. Mr. Paulson has been trained by Mr. Nakamura in the United States. He was the first American to fight in Shooto this year. Mr. Paulson is an excellent catch wrestler, and he has the potential to become even better than Mr. Nakamura himself. I am sure Mr. Nakamura would agree! I even heard he gave a fellow by the name of Rickson Gracie some trouble. Laughs But in all seriousness, Mr. Paulson was scouted by Mr. Jin last week and he was very impressed. Finally, two of my current trainees will also be joining. Yasuto Sekishima is one of my best fighters from the past two years and has a very respectable record. He is still learning, but he has earned several great victories against other opponents. Mr. Sekishima will prove to be an excellent fighter. Manabu Yamada will be joining the UWF dojo. Mr. Yamada has just started training at Shooto, and he will combine the training that he will receive at the UWF dojo to become an even better person and fighter. Young Yamada will please any crowd he will fight in front of in due course. Thank you all for your questions. I would like to turn this over to Mr. Jin, who I am sure would be pleased to answer any other questions you may have. Jin: Thank you Mr. Sayama for your comments. I look forward to working with you. I think this relationship will reshape the world of combat sports. Additionally, I would like to announce that Mr. Sayama will wrestle his first match with us on August 22nd. UWF will hold its biggest event to date at the Ariake Coliseum in Tokyo. Mr. Sekishima, Mr. Paulson, and Mr. Nakamura will also make their first appearance on that show. Ticket details will be released very shortly. I will now be happy to take any questions. Reporter #1: Mr. Jin, ticket sales for UWF have been very strong so far. What made you decide to host the next show at Ariake Coliseum? Jin: Thank you for your question. So far, our indicators have shown there is a great demand for what we are presenting to the fans. We decided that an outdoor show in August that aligns with other public festivities for the month would be a great idea. We are very confident that we can put on a great show for the fans and we thank the fans for their continued support. Reporter #2: Can you provide any details on how the agreement with Mr. Sayama came about? Jin: I am sure Mr. Sayama would be happy to provide further details if he wishes in the future. I would like to respect the privacy of our discussions for now. I will say though that Mr. Sayama has always had a passion for wrestling and combat sports, and that we share a mutual love for bringing UWF to the world. Reporter #3: It was previously reported that Mr. Maeda would be making a trip to the Soviet Union next month. Can you confirm if this trip is still planned, and how Mr. Maeda was selected to be an ambassador? Jin: As you are aware, Mr. Maeda was selected by the Japanese government to be one of our sporting ambassadors to the Soviet Union. In this official capacity, he will be attending the Moscow World Cultural Festival scheduled for September 8th – September 14th. Mr. Maeda is deeply honored by this role given to him by the government and looks forward to representing UWF and our sport in Russia. He will be attending several Soviet combat sports exhibitions, including SAMBO, freestyle wrestling, and Greco-Roman wrestling. I will let your imagination do the rest, but Mr. Maeda is focused on representing our country in a very important occassion ahead of the Olympics this year. I am not a politician and will limit my comments here, but I think this event will further the cause of world peace through sport and culture. Reporter #4: Mr. Maeda also visited the Netherlands last week. Can you comment on how that meeting went? Jin: Thank you for asking that question, I planned on commenting on that. Mr. Maeda told me that the trip went very well and that Mr. Chris Dolman was very open to working with us and providing talent. Mr. Dolman himself commented that he was eager to test his skills against the best wrestlers in the world. I believe we now have an agreement in place with Mr. Dolman where we will see at least one other fighter from his Free Fight Holland gym participate in our show on August 22nd. We will announce the card at a future date, but you can be assured you will see Dutch representation. Reporter #5: We previously reported at Weekly Pro Wrestling that UWF will send scouts to the Olympics. Can you tell us more about what you would be looking for? Finally, Mr. Sayama mentioned the UWF dojo, can you tell us more about that? Jin: UWF is very eager to attract the best fighters and wrestlers in the world. Naturally, we would be interested in viewing relevant events unfold at the Olympics. We don’t have anything in particular in mind, but we will certainly be watching with a keen eye. As for the UWF dojo, we have indeed established one. Mr. Yamada will join the incoming class. We are still applying entrance exams to applicants and nothing is official yet, but I will take the liberty to mention some of our top candidates. Kiyoshi Tamura, Masahito Kakihara, and Yusuke Fuke have proven to be very promising and I am sure they will be successful in finishing all required trials soon. Once again, thank you all for your questions. We also thank the fans for their continued support and hope we can continue pleasing them. We will be happy to take any further questions through our media representative. With that said, I would like to conclude our press conference. I look forward to seeing some of you again at our show on August 22nd.

It's weird because if you click on the matches for Tajiri on WD, it only goes back as far as 1993. Not sure where they got 1989 from because I'm struggling to find anything on 1989 for Tajiri. And all the google results I'm seeing say he debuted in IWA Japan in 1989, but IWA Japan didn't exist then.

I'm not too fussed about this since at the end of the day these are just names on a message board and they have no real bearing on things, but there were two other names that might need some more consideration: 1) Rey Mysterio - Assuming this is Rey Mysterio Jr, he was 14 when he debuted in 1989 and doesn't really get his career going until 1992 with AAA. It might be a better idea to have him for 1992, but if people really want him in the game now, they should probably keep his age in mind. 2) Tajiri- If this is the Tajiri we all know and love, he doesn't debut until 1993/1994 according to Cagematch/Wrestling Data. I can't find anything that suggests he was active in 1989. He might have been a kickboxer somewhere going by his Wikipedia page, but he wasn't active as a professional wrestler as far as I can tell. There's a Wordpress page that claims he debuted in 1989 for IWA Japan, but this is misinformed as there is no record of IWA until 1994.

Yeah, he did some goofy things in his career but always delivered when it counted. I love your backstory for W*ING USA, gave me a good laugh. Can't wait to see where it goes.

Can't wait to see Kerry von Erich in AWA. A good show overall with interesting things going on and some nice set-ups as well. Title Night should be pretty fun!

Really excited to see what people have planned! I already have the first few shows of RINGS sketched out. I have some interesting match-ups in store!

That might be a good idea