UWF The Memorial (5/4/1990)
Dick Vrij vs Yoji Anjo
Fun match, Dick Vrij gets to shine a bit here, although I felt he leaned too much into the grappling side of the match. Perhaps this was to show that he was capable of holding his own on the mat and demonstrate improvement from his debut against Fujiwara. In any case, this had a nice flow to it. Anjo had a better sense of how to target limbs for submissions, but Dick Vrij was able to use his strength on the mat to grind down Anjo. Vrij had some cool heel-ish antics here, including shoving Anjo once or twice. It felt like Vrij held back on the striking; perhaps he was a bit nervous about inadvertently hurting Anjo. In any case, the finish was great. Anjo sold brilliantly after Vrij got him with a jumping high kick and a knee strike to the stomach. ***3/4+
Kazuo Yamazaki vs Tatsuo Nakano
Anytime you get Nakano and Yamazaki in the ring, they will likely deliver, and they certainly did in this match. They played off each other's strengths quite well, and the decision to keep things on the mat for most of the match paid off as they leaned into the grittier side of grappling, while building things up towards the finish. Nakano's nose gets bloodied in the process, and that only adds to the match atmosphere. Nakano pulls out all the stops, including headbutts, to try to gain an advantage. Yamazaki knows how to navigate rough waters, though, and his determination ends up resisting Nakano's firebrand pitbull mentality in the end. The last five minutes or so are excellent. Nakano really shines here, and Yamazaki did just enough to make him look like a legit threat until the very end. ****1/4
Akira Maeda vs Masakatsu Funaki
This probably could have been a bit better overall, but they still delivered as expected. The matwork wasn't bad at all, and with this leaning towards the grappling side more than the striking side, you want intention and purpose in your matwork, and this match wasn't lacking in that department. Funaki seemed to be reluctant to engage in a striking contest with Maeda, and worked instead to pick off a heel hook or kneebar on the mat, but Maeda seemed quite aware of Funaki's goals, and made things very difficult with some nice defensive wrestling. This caused Funaki to exhaust more energy than he wanted on the mat, allowing Maeda to get back into the bout without suffering too much damage. Eventually, this strategy paid off as Maeda seized an opportunity to clinch an exhausted Funaki and set him up for some vicious knee strikes that created an opening for a rear-naked choke. I think both could have raised the floor of the match a bit with heated striking exchanges, but perhaps they are saving this for later. ****
Minoru Suzuki vs Nobuhiko Takada
Kind of a weird match. The focus on upper-body grappling and handfighting was interesting, but the pace was a bit too slow than it should have been. It felt like Takada was less interested in the match than Suzuki was, and this created a lack of tension that could have taken this match to the next gear. The work itself was decent, if not unspectacular. Suzuki is improving as a proficient, intelligent wrestler as time goes on in UWF Newborn. His match with Funaki in April 1990 was excellent, and I think he was trying something similar here, but Takada had other things on his mind, I suppose. ***1/2
Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs Fred Hamaker
Pretty fun "different style" match. Fred Hamaker is a Dutch SAMBO/freestyle wrestler, and he acts like one, throwing around Fujiwara several times, but his submission game is primitive. There's some gritty matwork as a result, and Fujiwara has a good performance in making Hamaker come across as relatively decent and a legitimate threat. ****
UWF Fighting F (5/28/90)
Masakatsu Funaki vs Yoji Anjo
Another excellent contest between Funaki and Anjo, which is a follow-up to their encounter in 1989. This one didn't have the same type of frantic energy throughout, but they made up for it with intelligent matwork and keeping things interesting enough throughout with a threadline. The narrative in this match was about Funaki using his pure talent and skill to overcome Anjo's willpower. Anjo, of course, is not on the level of Funaki skill-wise, so he has to rely on his grit and underdog mentality to get one over the fast-rising superstar. Funaki has some moments where Anjo seems to get the better of him, but he never seems to be in real danger. Still, it's a struggle for him because he's not quite used to squashing the underdog as a guy in the superior role. Funaki does find a way, though, after Anjo opens himself up with some bold knee strikes that allow Funaki to create a cool reversal armdrag takedown that leads to a cross-armbreaker. ****1/2
Akira Maeda vs Minoru Suzuki
A good match, if not a bit frustrating at times. I love Maeda, but sometimes he seems to want the guy working from underneath to do more work than he does. This was evident in an extended leg lock sequence where Suzuki and Maeda were trading leverage, and Maeda just sort of chose to lie on his side and not display any urgency. This lasted about two minutes, and kinda caused the match to drag a bit. In any case, things pick up in the last 5-6 minutes. Suzuki has some good flashes of grappling brilliance, like a rolling kneebar and a Huzinga roll. He even catches Maeda with a dropkick, which seems to catch Maeda by surprise. Suzuki attempts to go for the upset, but Maeda catches him with a rear-naked choke. The crowd was pretty invested at this point, and it gave the match some payoff, but I really wish Maeda had allowed the match to have the same level of urgency in the beginning. ****
Nobuhiko Takada vs Tatsuo Nakano
I think this had the potential to be a classic, but the relatively slow start held things back a bit. Takada was better on the grappling side here compared to Maeda in the previous match, and he worked quite well with Nakano. At the same time, the second half of this match probably demanded more of a hot start in terms of striking. The finish was a bit weak, too. Nakano was probably exhausted, but I felt one more final stand could have sent this match into another level. The crowd was really buying into Nakano in the last few minutes, and you could hear the air being sucked out of the room when the referee called for the bell. Perhaps it was premature, and perhaps it was a more realistic finish. I could see the argument for the latter, but I felt Nakano had one more round in him, going toe-to-toe with Takada. What we got, though, was still very good overall. ****1/2
Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs Johnny Barrett
Decent match, and I liked how Fujiwara worked a compelling narrative with Barrett. Barrett is a huge grappler who clearly overpowers Fujiwara, and Fujiwara has to find a way to navigate that mismatch and find a way to win. Barrett is not terrible, but his grappling is very basic, and he can't take the match past first gear on his own. Fujiwara has to work extra hard to keep things moving, and it is enjoyable when it does. Unfortunately, things stall at certain points. The finish was nice, and Fujiwara's genius was on display throughout the bout. ***1/4
Kazuo Yamazaki vs Shigeo Miyato
This was a good main event. I'm a bit surprised Yamazaki and Miyato got top billing here, but it's a nice change of pace. Miyato really did his best to win this match and got a few points off Yamazaki. Perhaps in his excitement, Miyato left himself too open, and this gave Yamazaki a chance to get back in the match. The finishing stretch is awesome, with Miyato pummeling Yamazaki and seemingly in the driver's seat. Miyato tries to follow up on a knockdown, but Yamazaki times him with some vicious kicks and gets him to the mat for a kneebar. Very enjoyable. ****1/4
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