Control21

Good catch! I must have been distracted when I wrote that part.

UWF Newborn – “Fighting Network Hakata” September 5th, 1988 Hakata Starlanes Fukuoka, Japan Attendance: 4,000 (sold out) After the wrestlers are introduced individually as customary, Takada speaks to the audience and says that Akira Maeda is in Russia representing UWF at a sports and culture festival. Takada says that he will make the audience proud tonight and thanks everyone for coming, putting over Norman Smiley in the process. Sayama speaks afterward and says that it feels good to be in the ring again and that he will continue to prove why Shooto is the strongest. Sayama tells the fans that he hopes they continue supporting UWF as they enter a new season. Minoru Suzuki vs Wayne Shamrock As one would expect, this was a highly technical match. While everyone is aware of Suzuki’s grappling skills by this point, Shamrock proved himself as a quick learner and proficient in the grappling arts as well. Suzuki used his quickness and ability to put together smooth transitions to keep Shamrock working from defense, but Shamrock had good counterwork and prevented several moments of danger. Shamrock’s ability to detect moments of vulnerability while Suzuki spent a ton of energy on offense enabled the UWF newcomer to pose some questions to his opponent even while working from the bottom. To the delight of submission connoisseurs in the crowd, most of this match takes place on the canvas, and the two continue to demonstrate excellent knowledge of the art of catch wrestling. By the 8:00 mark, the match is tied 2-2 on points, with both causing each other to eventually expend several rope breaks. The two test each other’s striking ability for the first time, with Suzuki getting the better of Shamrock early with nice palm strike combos, causing the American rookie to stumble to the canvas, giving Suzuki his first knockdown. Shamrock gets up without much of an issue and continues coming at his opponent with his palm strikes. Shamrock clinches with Suzuki and lands a strong belly-to-belly suplex, immediately allowing Shamrock to work from side control. Shamrock immediately works for the cross armbreaker, but Suzuki’s defense prevents Shamrock from locking it in. Suzuki transitions to a full guard, but Shamrock smartly recognizes an opportunity and transitions into a mounted guillotine choke! Suzuki finds himself struggling to break free and is unable to find the ropes, and eventually taps. Shamrock is your winner! Shamrock defeats Suzuki via submission (mounted guillotine choke), 12:17 Masakatsu Funaki vs Tatsuo Nakano In a clash between Funaki’s grappling and Nakano’s striking, it was Funaki who proved to be the better man. While Funaki has enjoyed a run of victories since his UWF debut, Nakano has struggled to put together something similar. Nakano was eager to prove himself, starting the match strong with a series of stiff palm strikes and low kicks. Nakano seeks out an early knockdown, but Funaki does well to stay on his feet and begins to counter with some good strikes of his own. The Hakata Starlanes crowd buys into the hot start and the two competitors keep testing each other like prize fighters. As the match continues, Funaki tests Nakano’s grappling ability and Funaki is a lot better here, using his timing and awareness to get Nakano to the canvas. Nakano struggles to free himself of Funaki, who stays on top of Nakano at every opportunity. Funaki takes an early 1-0 lead in points as gets Nakano to grab the ropes twice in the span of a few minutes. Nakano does manage to knockdown Funaki following the extended grappling exchange, catching Funaki by surprise with a palm strike before following up with several kicks to Funaki’s abdomen. Funaki returns the favor after getting back up, delivering a sweet combo after countering Nakano’s attempts. Funaki wins the match when he blocks a suplex attempt from Nakano, and reverses it by getting Nakano’s back and locking in a rear-naked choke. Nakano tries to get to the ropes but passes out before being able to grab them. Funaki defeats Nakano via submission (rear-naked choke), 10:37 Shigeo Miyato vs Yoji Anjo Anjo and Miyato are both eager to get a win tonight, especially Miyato as he seeks his first victory in UWF after missing out on the Ariake Coliseum show. Miyato is quite explosive with his striking early on in the match, testing Anjo early with palm strikes and knees as Miyato manages to clinch with Anjo several times. Anjo manages to stay on his feet, but Miyato keeps him on the back foot. Anjo struggles to answer back with his own strikes, and Miyato takes the early lead in the match by knocking down Anjo twice in 5 minutes. Facing a 2-0 deficit, Anjo is desperate to get the match to the canvas. Finally, facing a third knockdown, Anjo gets a single-leg takedown on Miyato and tries to change the flow of the match by controlling Miyato’s back on the mat. Miyato is fine in terms of his grappling skills, but Anjo’s desperation proves to be key here as he works for a katahajime. Miyato recognizes he is close to the ropes and goes for a quick break to avoid Anjo’s grip. Anjo continues to put pressure on Miyato as Yuji Shimada, the referee, gets the two to stand back up. Anjo clinches with Miyato as he goes for a leg sweep to get the match back to the canvas. Anjo finds himself on top of Miyato again, and he works from side control this time. Miyato plays good defense and prevents Anjo from doing anything too dangerous. Anjo does switch up and goes for Miyato’s legs and tries for various leg holds before Miyato rolls for the ropes again and gets another rope break. Miyato takes control of the next stage in the match, as his striking ability comes into play again. Despite Anjo’s attempt to launch a comeback, Miyato is undeterred as he gets several more knockdowns on Anjo and finally ends the match via TKO as he corners Anjo around the 14:00 mark and slaps him several times and finishes things off with a hard knee strike to Anjo’s stomach. Anjo is knocked down for the fifth and final time. Miyato defeats Anjo via TKO, 14:21 Bart Vale vs Kazuo Yamazaki Bart Vale, a Kenpo specialist and a decent grappler as well, is equal in stature to Kazuo Yamazaki with both standing at 6’2. As the match begins, Vale immediately shows off well-time high kicks which prope Yamazaki’s defense. Yamazaki answers back with low kicks that test Vale’s commitment to his approach. The two have a bit of a stare-down from distance before Vale comes in with a high roundhouse kick, which catches Yamazaki by surprise. Yamazaki stumbles backward but immediately regains his composure and delivers a middle thrust kick to Vale’s abdomen. Vale is sent backward and has a bit of a smirk on his face before he sets himself again to continue with the match. The long-haired Vale responds with a combo of palm strikes followed by a high axe kick, which Yamazaki smartly dodges. The crowd gives their approval at the display of talent and Yamazaki quickly tries to lock in with Vale to test his opponent’s ability on the canvas. Vale tries to block a takedown attempt but Yamazaki catches Vale’s leg and trips him, bringing him down to where he wants him. Yamazaki tries to work in a simple yet effective collar choke on Vale, but Vale has too much energy and willpower at this point in the match to fall prey to this, and his defense is effective enough to where Yamazaki changes plans and goes for Vale’s long legs instead, trying to work in a heel hook but Vale works Yamazaki’s legs as well and the two have a battle of leg locks before the Yuji Shimada forces the two to stand back up due to the eventual lack of action. The match continues with things turning out to be fairly even, as Yamazaki and Vale trade knockdowns with their patented kicking abilities, but neither is in real danger of being beaten by the count. Yamazaki gets Vale to the mat a few more times where Vale plays mostly defense and prevents Yamazaki from locking in any dangerous submissions. Vale grabs the ropes a few times to prevent any significant developments as well. By the 16:00 mark, the match is tied 3-3 on points after Yamazaki and Vale trade knockdowns again, with Vale growing into the match and gaining the front foot after connecting with a high kick on Yamazaki. Vale makes the mistake of allowing Yamazaki to clinch with him, and the two find themselves on the canvas again. Vale gains Yamazaki’s back, but Yamazaki has great defense as well and Yamazaki eventually finds Yamazaki’s arm for an inverted armbar. Vale tries to reach for the ropes but even with his long limbs, they appear to be out of reach, and Vale taps. The crowd cheers for Yamazaki as he celebrates a well-earned victory. Yamazaki defeats Vale via submission (inverted armbar), 17:11 Satoru Sayama vs Ryuma Go While Ryuma Go has proven his skills so far in UWF Newborn, he hasn’t had a win since his first match with Masakatsu Funaki. Of course, this motivates Go to come out firing once again as the bell sounds. Sayama, of course, is prepared. Go’s palm strikes are mostly defended by Sayama, who appears to be calmer in demeanor and isn’t entirely worried by his ambitious opponent. Sayama answers back with pointed low kicks, which causes Go to take the backfoot as Sayama begins to dictate the flow of the match. Sayama hits Go with some palm strikes of his own. Go tries to answer back but Sayama does a nifty move where he takes down his opponent with a low leg sweep that resembles one of Sayama’s patented kicking motions. Sayama takes hold of Go’s free leg and begins to work in a single-leg Boston crab, which eventually causes Go to scramble for the ropes. The first half of the match follows a similar pattern, with Sayama waiting patiently for openings to take Go to the canvas while keeping his opponent busy with tentative strikes, but nothing too dangerous yet. Go lands some shots and does get some offense in the canvas, but Sayama controls the match by the 10:00 mark with a 2-0 advantage on points by forcing Go to go for the ropes three more times within the timeframe. The second half of the match picks up, with Go finding an opportunity to corner Sayama near a turnbuckle, allowing him to land a nice palm strike combo as Sayama struggles to defend himself. Go backs off, luring Sayama in as Sayama tries to recover while staying on his feet. Go seizes the initiative and takes Sayama’s back for a side suplex delivered with intent. Ryuma is tempted to go a dangerous (and illegal) soccer kick as he gets back up but restrains himself as Sayama tries to recover on the canvas. Ryogoku Wada calls for a count, giving Go his first knockdown of the match. Sayama recovers by the count of seven and immediately goes on the offensive to re-establish himself. Sayama lands several high kicks on Ryuma, which is followed up by a well-executed high roundhouse kick. Go stumbles backward and hits the canvas as Sayama gets his immediate payback for the previous knockdown. Go faces his first count and gets back up by the count of eight. Sayama opts to take the match to the canvas again, and the two have an extended grappling fight on the canvas for the last few minutes of the match. Go manages to make the score 3-2 after he surprises Sayama twice with some clever submission attempts, but Sayama’s conditioning from Shooto proves to be a key factor here, as he takes advantage of Go’s growing fatigue and finds one of his legs for a knee-crusher. Go gets a taste of his own medicine here as he is caught by surprise by how quickly Sayama finds the opening and locks in the hold. The pain is too much and Go has no choice but to tap, giving Sayama the victory. Sayama defeats Go via submission (knee-crusher), 19:52 Nobuhiko Takada vs Norman Smiley Norman Smiley proved to be a very capable wrestler in his first outing with Osamu Kido last month and has been awarded a main event spot against Nobuhiko Takada, who is on quite a hot streak as he seeks to continue establishing himself as the clear alternative to Akira Maeda. Smiley is already somewhat of a crowd favorite after wowing the Ariake Coliseum audience with his slick grappling skills and chain wrestling. Takada is very well aware of the danger Smiley poses on the canvas. As the bell sounds, he seeks to keep things in the stand-up as he tests his opponent early with sharp kicks, which mostly serve as a tool to keep his distance from Smiley and inflict damage to his opponent when the opportunity arises. Smiley invites Takada to grapple after a minute or two, extending out his arms and locking hands with his opponent. Smiley immediately works in a position where he has side control of Takada’s back as it appears he is looking for an early manjigatame, or Octopus hold. Instead, Smiley opts for a banana split takedown, as he traps one of Takada’s legs with his own and keeps the other within the grasp of his arms. Takada’s tall frame helps him here, enabling him to find an escape route quickly as he positions himself for a cross-armbreaker. Smiley has no problems defending this as he rolls Takada over and goes for a quick heel hook, which sends Takada to the ropes for the first time in the match. Takada steadily grows into the main event bout as it continues, although Smiley continues to find openings to get Takada to the canvas, and as one would expect, Smiley proves to be very capable here. Smiley’s quickness and ability to read Takada on the canvas allows him to find openings when he needs to, and Takada has to have an excellent defense to keep Smiley from doing anything too dangerous. Takada, of course, proves to be the better striker and knocks down Smiley twice in the span of a few minutes to get the match even at 2-2 as we head into the 15:00 mark. Smiley is undeterred and gets up both times, seemingly relishing the challenge Takada is presenting. Takada throws some palm strikes and more kicks, closing the distance in the process and clinching with Smiley. Takada attempts to take control of Smiley’s back for a suplex, but Smiley reverses while maintaining wrist control. Smiley pulls Takada’s arm in for a single-arm takedown and promptly transitions into a cross-armbreaker attempt. The move catches Takada by surprise, which forces him to quickly go for the ropes as he is unable to fully process the chain of events that just occurred. With that rope break, Smiley takes a 3-2 lead on points. As the two stand back up, Smiley comes right back at him with a series of forearm uppercuts. Takada is reeling here! Smiley follows up with an unorthodox high kick and promptly locks up with Takada to position himself for a snap suplex. Smiley converts it, and quickly finds Takada’s back on the canvas as he catches Takada for a Crossface Chickenwing! Smiley gets all of it as he also applies the body scissors, and Takada looks to be in a bad spot. The crowd is becoming quite vocal by this point as they chant for Takada. Fortunately for Takada, he senses the ropes are next to his feet and finds them after a brief struggle. The referee for this match, Motoyuki Kitazawa, stands the two back up and Smiley is a little amazed that Takada was able to get out of that one. Takada comes right back at Smiley, hitting him with some sharp kicks to the abdomen. Smiley stumbles backward as Takada hits him with a roundhouse kick to the same area, which catches Smiley off guard as he feels that one. Takada grabs Smiley as closes the distance and hits him with a devastating Saito Suplex. Smiley grabs his ribs and grimaces, which enables Takada to quickly find Smiley’s free leg for a heel hook! Smiley feels this one pretty tight, and taps. Motoyuki Kitazawa calls for the bell and the crowd roars as they celebrate Takada’s victory over Norman Smiley. Takada defeats Smiley via submission (heel hook), 21:45 Takada celebrates his victory over Smiley and takes in the moment as the crowd cheers "TA-KA-DA! TA-KA-DA! TA-KA-DA!" Smiley gets his share of the applause as he works his way to the back, even in defeat. Takada bows in all four cardinal directions and sends the crowd home happy. Maeda is certainly building connections for UWF abroad, but at what cost? Takada has clearly cemented his place as the primary rival to the hottest wrestler in Japan, at least for now...will they meet in the ring soon? Only time will tell. And what of Sayama? Perhaps he's biding his time in the slow lane. picture top - Bart Vale lands a high kick in Yamazaki's face. picture bottom - A magazine cover highlighting Takada's win over Smiley

I agree that Gary Hart's promos are very well done. Abdullah the Butcher and Tarzan Goto have been established as a brutal force to be reckoned with. I also like how Ron Simmons is being established. The Horsemen vs Luger/Gordy interaction hit the mark as well. Another enjoyable show overall.

Solid show top to bottom. Kerry Von Erich will be back with a vengeance, I'm sure of that. Fujinami and Tsuruta took each other to the limit and showed once again why they may be years ahead of everyone else. The main event delivered as expected, and Nikita Koloff continued his great title run. Can't wait to see the Wargames match.

I think the 1997 class is solid. You just have to look a bit deeper than usual. CIMA, Dragon Kid, and Magnum Tokyo would be great additions for anyone looking to build a junior division over the long term. Then you have guys like Snitsky, Naoya Ogawa, and Ron Killings who could be fun additions to any roster.

Another fun episode of NWA. Great main event to close the show along with the return of Randy Savage. Curt Hennig joining the Million Dollar Corporation is huge. That stable is poised to run the NWA for years to come. Don Callis gets a lesson in how to be humble. NWA is shaping up to be one of the hottest promotions this year.

This was a solid episode of WWF Superstars. The main event between Sid and Farooq had an unexpected twist at the end. Definitely curious to see if this leads to anything else. Farooq vs Savio Vega sounds like a solid match on paper and is an exciting semi-final.

Kamala takes control of the A block as predicted. Can anyone stop him? He looks set to take the NWA by storm if no one does. Also love to see Bill Kazmaier come away with another victory too. Shane Douglas vs Brooklyn Brawler sounded like one of those matches you would never think of but would be a hidden gem on a tape somewhere.

You came up with another pretty cool idea here. Similar to IPW but with its own unique flavor. I love how you keep things relatively simple (which is never a bad thing) while retaining the feelings of a late 1980s studio-oriented territory. Great ending to the first episode with Frazier/Bruno vs Head Hunter and Tojo Yamamoto with a crazy twist. Can never have too much wrestling in Memphis these days.

Card Announcement: UWF Newborn – “Fighting Network Hakata” September 8th, 1988 Hakata Starlanes Fukuoka, Japan Minoru Suzuki vs Wayne Shamrock Masakatsu Funaki vs Tatsuo Nakano Shigeo Miyato vs Yoji Anjo Bart Vale vs Kazuo Yamazaki Satoru Sayama vs Ryuma Go Nobuhiko Takada vs Norman Smiley

Lots of good match-ups in the latest entry to AWA. The Koloff vs Zhukov feud is heating up, I really like the creativity in that angle. Lanny Poffo is a genius, someone give that man the recognition he deserves.

That was an excellent edition of SummerSlam. Great Muta vs Kevin von Erich sounded like a potential showstealer. The Rockers vs The Russians, Tito Santana vs Rick Martel, and Hogan vs Rick Rude were the top-level matches one would expect from a card of this caliber. Felt like I was reading the results from an actual late 1980s Summerslam. Great work.

Interesting start to WCW. Eddie Guerrero vs Booker T was a great opener and Ric Flair vs Rocco Rock is a fun pairing. Also enjoy Lex Luger and Sting as a tag team and it will be interesting to see who else challenges them for the tag titles in the division. The Giant vs Stevie Ray is another match I never knew I needed to see until now. Good stuff!

I'm not too fussed about it but I'm sure Booker T was seen as a guy with huge potential at the time and was being treated like one IIRC so I was just thinking about Duggan's worth at the time in the line of a traditional sports trade. Would a team accept a declining asset for a potential superstar? That's up for debate but most teams wouldn't I think. Anyways, I'm just giving my opinion since I was asked for it. Not trying to be a fly in your ointment. I understand why you would want him.

I'm not arguing with anyone, but there's certainly no way a promotion would have accepted Hakushi for Bam Bam Bigelow in 1996. That's just a simple fact. If you're fine with that trade then I guess there's nothing I can do about it, but I think these types of trades just take away from our original intentions for the untouchables list and it just turns into a "well, it's fair in my view!" type of thing and the list will eventually just end up being a random assortment of names that won't be attractive to anyone. Again, this is just my two cents and not meant to be confrontational.

If everything is in the eyes of the beholder then it might be best to just abolish the untouchable list anyway because it's just kinda of pointless if anyone and everyone can trade whoever they want. Or just go back to the original idea and use a draft system if no one joins by a certain time.

No, I didn't think that was fair either

PWI rankings were kayfabe and not based on anything tangible. Volk Han was never ranked in PWI until 1996 or 1997 and that was his only appearance although he was arguably a top 50 wrestler since at least 1992. I would say that if you really wanted Bigelow, you might need to offer several wrestlers to get a fair deal for Bigelow. I would like Dan Severn but there's no one on my roster that would hold comparable value that I would be willing to let go. These types of decisions are what keep games like this interesting. At least I think so. If I was the Untouchable promotion, I would probably ask for Abdullah the Butcher and Mike Awesome to be included in any deal. But that's just me. Don't take my objection as hostility or anything. I just think we need to stick to the original intentions here otherwise the untouchables list will be pointless and we'll be better off just getting rid of it

Ehh..The Rock and Roll express' star was waning in 1996 and weren't exactly top draws. Bigelow was being used to advertise video games like the Wrestlemania arcade game and was a year removed from his big feud with Lawrence Taylor. Just my thoughts on the matter

Bam Bam was still a pretty big name at this time. I would expect a big trade for him Not to be that guy or anything but if we want to remain faithful to the intentions of the Untouchable list, we should really make sure every trade is 100% realistic and in line with the expectations of the time. Perhaps we could bring in a third party mediator to give their opinion

Some recommendations to help get you started - https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x7wg6q8 https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x4evgna I'm also doing a review of UWF 2.0 in the Microscope section if you want to follow along there and see what other matches you want to seek out yourself. Keep in mind that UWF 2.0 was mostly worked (maybe one or two shoots? Can't remember) and outside of Shooto, MMA wouldn't take off in Japan until the 1990s with Pancrase, Vale Tudo Japan, and eventually RINGS.

A great way to start off WWF in 1996! The IC tournament promises to be quite fun and Savio Vega has already made things interesting by beating Owen Hart. Will he face Sid or Farooq? Either will be a formidable opponent. The Ultimate Warrior has made a statement by beating Goldust and becoming the new #1 contender for the WWF title! Can the Ultimate Warrior redeem himself and become the top guy for WWF once again? Overall, this was very faithful to 1996 WWF and I enjoyed re-visiting all the characters again. Can't wait to see what's next!

The interaction between Dr. Death/Ted DiBiase and Abdullah the Butcher/Tarzan Goto is just what the doctor ordered! Can't wait to see these two tag teams lock horns in a proper match down the line. Should be very fun. Ron Simmons has friends in high places, and perhaps this will help him in the new WCW. He certainly has the pedigree to rise through the ranks quickly. Dan Spivey has made a statement and his presence makes the Horsemen a more formidable faction overall. I also like the team of Mando Guerrero and Ricky Santana. They will pose a danger to anyone who faces them. Another excellent WCW show. As always, the promos are very fun to read.