Control21

Concur with Rainmaker's comment re: Road Warriors and Garvin. They are already potential favorites in the 8-man tag. Late comment but the GAB show was excellent. Great card top to bottom.

Vader and Chris Benoit will be with the UWF until the end of the year, sent on loan from the WWF.

UWF Newborn – “July History: 1st Anniversary” July 26th, 1989 Osaka, Japan Osaka Baseball Stadium Attendance: 30,000 (sold out) Broadcast: WOWOW (live) The WOWOW broadcast opens with the commentary crew welcoming the viewing audience. They break down the matches and discuss expectations and hopes as the crowd begins to take to their seats for the big event. Soon, we see Nobuyuki Furuta standing in the middle of the ring as he opens proceedings and the parade of wrestlers begins, set to the UWF theme. They come out one by one, with Maeda, Takada, Sayama, Fujiwara, Karelin, Volk Han, Backlund, Funaki, Fujiwara, and Yamazaki all getting pretty good receptions from the crowd. As the wrestlers take their place in the ring, Maeda gives a few words. He thanks the fans for their support over the past year and that without them, UWF wouldn't have had the success they did. He thanks UWF's global partners in the Soviet Union and Holland for allowing the promotion to grow, as well as other wrestlers like Bob Backlund. Takada takes the microphone after Maeda finishes, and promises a great main event. He says he is looking forward to proving why he is the best wrestler in UWF. Backlund cuts a quick promo as well, and sort of brushes off Funaki as a nuisance. Funaki is seen by the cameras as cracking a smile. Some other wrestlers like Satoru Sayama, Yoshiaki Fujiwara and Kazuo Yamazaki give quick statements as well. Shinji Jin enters the ring and thanks the fans personally for coming out. He says he has a surprise. The Osaka crowd erupts as they see a large man walking into the arena on the big screen. They quickly realize it is none other than Vader! There is a huge eruption of cheers as Vader enters the crowded ring, but there is room for him. Vader, wearing a UWF shirt and baseball cap, takes the microphone and gives a quick statement that is translated to the audience: "Konbanwa, you might already know who I am. I've heard a lot about a promotion called UWF (cheers). I hear so much from my friends in Japan about how incredibly popular UWF is in this country. Bad News Brown told me this was the place to be and I believed him. I hear other promotions in Japan are jealous and this is where the best wrestlers in the world prove themselves now. Well, no one has proven anything. They haven't faced me yet. I was growing a bit frustrated with politics as usual in America, and Mr. Maeda gave me a call. He promised that this was real wrestling. I will take on any challenger, and next month, I will be in Moscow. Who knows, I might even stick around after that. I hear there is a tournament being hosted soon by Mr. Lou Thesz to determine the best wrestler in the world. No one will be able to beat me if I enter. I will be watching from the front row tonight. Starting next month though, my conquest begins!" Vader raises his fist in the air and makes a hand motion across the UWF logo on his chest. Vader exits the ring and the WOWOW commentators are quite excited and recap Vader's announcement and his plans. With that, we are underway and the event begins. Masahito Kakihara vs Kiyoshi Tamura The two “young lions” went at each other full speed from start to finish, once again impressing the fans and demonstrating why they are perhaps the two best rookies in the first class of UWF dojo trainees. Kakihara had his wild, raw strikes and Tamura answered back with smooth counters and takedowns. It was mostly a back-and-forth affair, with both trading knockdowns down the stretch. After the 10:00 mark, Tamura finally established some momentum and took control of the match with his superior grappling skills. Tamura blocked a palm strike combo from Kakihara and caught one of his hands to jump into a flying armbar for the submission victory. Tamura was quite pleased with himself and celebrated his victory. Tamura defeats Kakihara via submission (flying armbar), 10:52 Yusuke Fuke vs Manabu Yamada In a more controlled affair compared to the previous match, Fuke and Yamada had more of a grappling-centered contest and both were willing to be patient enough to pick their spots while steadily wearing down their opponent. Yamada, with his Shooto background, was very much focused on trying to surprise his opponent with grappling counters and reversals, while Fuke was more measured and calculating as he attempted to focus on snatching a leg or two. Both seemed unwilling to go for the first rope break, and it was a bit of a stalemate for the first several minutes as they continued to work on the mat. Fuke was finally forced to break a hold using the ropes when Yamada broke his turtle defense for a cross-armbreaker. After the break, Fuke started launching palm strikes and kicks. Yamada was happy to exchange as well, but Fuke managed to score an early knockdown. Yamada eventually regained control of the match and got a 2-1 lead on points. Down the final few minutes, Fuke tried his best to even the score and eventually got Yamada to go for the ropes a fourth time to even the score at 2-2. There was a rush by both to regain the lead before the final bell, but neither could find an opening or land a knockdown. With 15 minutes expired, the match was declared a draw. 15:00 draw Shigeo Miyato vs Yoji Anjo Miyato’s confidence came up against the fire and willpower of Anjo, who constantly applied pressure on his opponent with strikes. Anjo also came up with some creative moves to take Miyato down to the mat, who gained the edge with his refined grappling skills. Anjo continued to be relentless though, and kept giving Miyato a pretty good struggle as the two continued to work on the mat. Miyato succeeded in finding avenues to find hooks with a patient approach and built himself a 1-0 lead after getting a few rope breaks from Anjo. Anjo continued his approach at full-throttle though, and eventually evened things up with a knockdown after catching Miyato with a high kick. After some more back and forth, the score evened up at 2-2. Anjo found the critical breakthrough when he managed to best Miyato on the mat, reversing a cross-armbreaker attempt by rolling through it and turning it into a full Boston crab. Miyato tried to get to the ropes, but Anjo applied even more pressure and finally forced Miyato to tap. Anjo was very pleased with himself and celebrated just as he approached the match with a ton of energy. Anjo defeats Miyato via submission (Boston crab), 14:44 Minoru Suzuki vs Wayne Shamrock Although they were tag team partners a month before, the sporting nature of UWF can always put two partners against each other in the blink of an eye. And of course, both are prideful competitors so the match was a respectful but intense contest between two quickly improving talents. Shamrock at first used his strength and power to get Suzuki to the mat, executing an almost perfect German suplex in the process. The two were evenly matched when it came to the struggle on the canvas and neither could find a significant breakthrough as both had similar backgrounds and skill levels. What did matter was Shamrock’s conditioning, and he looked a bit sharper as a result as the match went on. Still, Suzuki continued to put up a fight. Shamrock was able to get a few more suplexes in, and this seemed to slow Suzuki down a bit as Shamrock gained a 2-1 lead in points. Suzuki found his fighting spirit though, and started to launch a comeback when he caught Shamrock with a sharp palm strike to the head. After Suzuki surprised Shamrock with a double-leg takedown and kneebar that forced another rope break, Suzuki knocked Shamrock back again with another combo of palm strikes. This allowed the crowd favorite to hit his opponent with a Gotch-style piledriver. Suzuki quickly went for the cover. 1…2…3!! Suzuki secured the pinfall and victory. Suzuki defeats Shamrock via pinfall, 15:39 Volk Han vs Dick Vrij After besting Maurice Smith last month, Volk Han found himself up against another capable, perhaps more vicious, striker in Dick Vrij. Right out of the gate, these two brought a ton of energy and immediately treated the crowd to a thrilling display of grappling vs striking. Volk Han opened things up with a kani-basami leg entry attempt, which successfully took Vrij down to the mat. Han was relentless in looking for a leg hook and this had Vrij scrambling around, looking for a rope break. After some struggle, Vrij was finally able to reach the ropes to escape Han’s grasp. The break allowed Vrij to open the distance some with his strikes, and he targeted Han’s lower legs to try and trip him up. Han got knocked down briefly, but quickly got back up and was able to beat a call for a knockdown. Vrij continued to throw some pretty hard strikes, but Han managed to get within Vrij’s range again and immediately took him back down to his comfort zone on the canvas. After a clever cross-armbreaker attempt, Han was able to score a second rope break for the first point of the match. Vrij stuck to his game plan despite the deficit and softened up Han enough to where it looked like the Soviet SAMBO wizard was slowing down. Vrij’s grappling skills were actually improving to some degree, and he was able to hold his own with Han at times. Of course, Han was better in this department and he racked up another rope break through Vrij’s weak defense. Vrij scored his first point after hitting Han in the gut with a knee strike. Han took his time to get up but beat the count at 7. Things continued to heat up after Han attempted a nice sweeping leg entry into a kneebar attempt, but they fell close to the ropes, prompting a clean break. Vrij managed to surprise Han with a spinning back elbow, and this knocked down the Dagestani for another knockdown. Han beat the count again and seemed to taunt Vrij by going down to the canvas and slithering around, a bit like Antonio Inoki against Muhammad Ali. Han beckoned Vrij to go back to the ground with him. Han attempted to sneak in a leg hook takedown, but Vrij fended him off. After two straight knockdowns from Vrij, Han was down to his final point and seemed to be cornered by Vrij’s strategy. Vrij even managed to get a rope break from Han after securing a rear naked choke on his opponent. Sensing an opportunity, Vrij assailed his opponent with a series of high kicks but Han caught one of them and took him down for an Achilles hold. Vrij immediately tapped and Han secured the victory much to his delight. Han celebrated by briefly lifting the referee, Motoyuki Kitazawa, up in the air. Of course, the crowd was delighted and celebrated with Han. Han defeats Vrij via submission (Achilles hold), 13:27 Kazuo Yamazaki vs Victor Zangiev Zangiev presented a formidable challenge for Yamazaki, and Yamazaki focused on his striking abilities to keep his distance from the powerful grappler. As such, this was another exciting striker vs grappler match where Zangiev seemed to overpower Yamazaki whenever he got his hands on him. Zangiev was able to get a variety of suplexes on Yamazaki and tried one or two pinfall attempts. Yamazaki, on the other hand, went for powerful kicks to the exposed legs of Zangiev. This allowed Yamazaki to steadily wear down his opponent. Zangiev and Yamazaki traded knockdowns over the next few minutes in between all the suplexes and sharp kicks. The two were tied 2-2 on points when Zangiev managed to get Yamazaki down to the ground again, and Zangiev attempted a hammerlock choke. Yamazaki struggled to get to the ropes but finally managed to pull enough body weight to use his leg to break the hold. This gave Zangiev a 3-2 lead, and Yamazaki had to go full throttle as unleashed a furious combo of strikes. After scoring one knockdown to the crowd’s delight, Yamazaki quickly followed up with another knockdown to get a 4-3 lead on points. Zangiev attempted to close the distance one last time to wrestle down his opponent, but Yamazaki managed to keep the distance and hit a sharp kick to Zangiev’s kidney area to end the match via TKO. Yamazaki defeats Zangiev via TKO, 14:01 Bob Backlund vs Masakatsu Funaki Funaki has cemented himself as one of the top young wrestlers in the company and has held his own in the top 10 rankings for quite some time. A clash against Bob Backlund was probably the most logical step forward for him as a competitor. Backlund, who has been undefeated since December, presents a tough task for Funaki. Backlund always takes his competitors seriously though, and no matter how much he thinks Funaki is inexperienced, he won’t take him lightly. After the bell sounds to commence the match, Backlund sizes up Funaki and locks up wrists with him, as both try to outmuscle each other with an armdrag. Backlund quickly wins this battle and takes Funaki down to the canvas and the American looks for an angle to hook his opponent early. Funaki is quick to escape though, and gets back on his feet. The two square off once again, with Funaki offering a few low kicks to check Backlund in the process. The pace quickens up a bit as Backlund and Funaki both find creative ways to bring each other down to the mat, and the opening few minutes are a bit of a grappling affair with both Funaki and Backlund testing each other with various leg lock exchanges. Both get a rope break before they find themselves on their feet again. Funaki threw some more low kicks, and this seemed to frustrate Backlund to some degree as he got more agitated. The grappling contest devolved into a stiff striking exchange as each threw some pretty hard palm strikes that caught each other in the face. Funaki mixed things up with some kicks, and Backlund was getting stiffed pretty hard. Funaki certainly got some receipts back though, but held tough. Backlund received another sharp palm strike followed by several knee strikes to the face as Funaki clinched and bent Backlund over. Backlund quickly fell to the mat and took some time to beat the ten count as the crowd firmly got behind Funaki after the clinical display of striking. Kitazawa reached the count of eight before Backlund got back up on both feet. The former WWF star came roaring back and hit Funaki with several stiff forearms, and this allowed Backlund to set his opponent up for a very impactful gutwrench suplex. Backlund followed Funaki to the mat and attempted to get a double wristlock in place, but Funaki found a way to defend himself before reversing the hold and getting his own double wristlock on Backlund. Backlund quickly moved towards the ropes to break the hold though, and the intensity ratcheted up once again as they engaged in another striking exchange that popped the crowd. Funaki seemed to get the upper hand and followed up with a dropkick that caught Backlund by surprise. The two found themselves on the mat again. Backlund eventually set up a Gotch lift and raised Funaki into the air, impressing the crowd. Backlund pushed Funaki against a turnbuckle and had him seated on the top. Kitazawa called for a clean break, which allowed Funaki some distance. Perhaps in a moment of frustration or youthful indiscretion, Funaki leaped off the top and hit Backlund with another dropkick. This caught the crowd by surprise because under the UWF ruleset, using the ropes or turnbuckles as leverage for a move is illegal. Kitazawa called for the bell. Backlund seemed a little surprised but celebrated his victory nonetheless, while Funaki seemed upset about something and eventually left the ring. He was clearly frustrated with himself, of course. Backlund defeats Funaki via DQ, 14:21 Satoru Sayama/Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs Aleksandr Karelin/David Gobejishvili The two heavyweight gold medalists from Greco-Roman and Freestyle wrestling respectively were powerful adversaries by themselves, but as a team, they were sure to almost unbeatable. Sayama and Fujiwara, however skilled they were, quickly discovered this. Sayama’s striking abilities were on full display as he found himself up against Karelin early on, but the Soviet did very well to defend himself and managed to close the distance easily on his opponent. Sayama did not want to be on the ground with Karelin much and did his best to escape each time he was. Fujiwara also had some difficulty with Gobejishvili and his unorthodox offense. The 6’8 Georgian used a variety of creative throwing techniques influenced by his background in Georgian wrestling. Fujiwara’s ground game was neutralized by this approach as the Georgian gold medalist shifted the focus from grappling to a more strength-focused approach. Fujiwara lost an early point after he lost his footing from a fireman’s carry throw and prompted a knockdown count from Soranaka. Karelin continued to apply the pressure after he was tagged back in, and his opponent was once again Sayama. The rope breaks started coming for Karelin as Sayama found himself in a world of trouble with Karelin’s Greco-Roman takedowns and joint locks meant to control the pacing of the match in his favor. Sayama was still formidable though, and found a way to fight back using his wide knowledge of the grappling arts. It was in the standup where Sayama found his strength though, and his furious kicks kept softening up Karelin despite his incredible size. Fujiwara and Sayama tried a rapid tag technique on Karelin, and that seemed to work as Fujiwara was able to get a rope break from Karelin after managing to surprise him with an ankle pick and ankle lock attempt. The match continued to see a brief resurgence from Sayama and Fujiwara, but Karelin and Gobejishvili managed to re-establish themselves in due course and their grappling skills and momentum were eventually too much to resist. Fujiwara was eliminated first by Karelin who knocked him off his feet for the final point with a huge belly-to-belly suplex. Sayama was alone and was pinned by Gobejishvili around the 15:00 mark who caught him with a shoulder lock that also acted as a pinning maneuver. Karelin & Gobejishvili defeat Sayama & Fujiwara, 15:37 Akira Maeda vs Nobuhiko Takada Maeda was determined to firmly establish himself as the top wrestler in UWF Newborn and wanted to beat Takada decisively. This would be no easy task of course. Takada had proven he was just as good as Maeda, if not better at times. The crowd at Osaka Baseball Stadium was rocking for this one, and as soon as the bell sounded, dueling chants for both Maeda and Takada broke out. Both wrestlers started trading hard strikes, with a variety of kicks, palm strikes, and body punches thrown in for good measure. At first, it seemed like Maeda had the upper hand. Maeda was forceful and seemed to enjoy stalking Takada around the ring as the latter defended himself from Maeda’s constant kicks. Takada answered back, but nothing seemed to particularly bother Maeda. Takada did manage to bring Maeda down to the mat with a single-leg takedown, and the two grappled for several minutes at a relatively slow pace. Both were patient and didn’t rush into any sort of danger. While the two aren’t the most exciting grapplers in UWF, they did catch the crowd’s attention with their methodical work and the jam-packed Osaka Baseball Stadium watched intently. Maeda built up an early 1-0 lead on points after sending Takada to the ropes twice with a variety of holds. Takada found himself on the mat again in due course and started a bit of a comeback by working on Maeda’s leg. Takada struggled to even the score, however, and had to resort to luring Maeda back into a standup exchange where he struggled to match Maeda’s intensity once again, resulting in Takada being knocked down. Maeda built his lead to 2-0, and seemed to be enjoying the momentum for a few more minutes until Takada answered in return with a surprisingly sharp high kick followed by a kidney shot. Maeda collapsed to his knees and Soranaka called for a ten count, but Maeda was able to get up without sweating too much about beating the count. There was another wild striking exchange and Maeda returned the favor with another knockdown following several knee strikes from the clinch. Takada just couldn’t get anything going, either on the mat or canvas. Maeda asserted himself even more with a 3-1 lead as Takada tried everything in the book to get back on the board. After another extended grappling exchange, Takada did manage to get a single-leg Boston crab that extracted another rope break from Maeda, making the score 3-2. But this is where Takada’s luck ended. Maeda spent the next few minutes softening up Takada once again with more strikes. Takada did his best to answer back with more high kicks, but this played right into Maeda’s hands as he blocked one of Takada’s kicks and caught it, turning it into a huge Capture suplex! Takada faced another ten count but managed to find his footing. He was weak though, and Maeda caught him for another Capture suplex as he stumbled around. Takada quickly found himself in a kneebar, and Maeda had the hold locked in tight…..Takada taps! Maeda’s fans erupt with joy as Osaka Baseball Stadium turns thunderous for the victor. Soranaka raises Maeda’s arm as the result is made official, with Takada recovering near a turnbuckle. Maeda defeats Takada via submission (kneebar), 20:32 Akira Maeda continues to celebrate in the ring for a few minutes as he soaks up the atmosphere. Maeda is also given a ceremonial trophy to commemorate the occasion. Takada, clearly disappointed with himself, reluctantly shakes hands with Maeda and exits the ring. The WOWOW commentary team recap the events from the evening. They promote the show next month in Moscow, with clips airing of Akira Maeda and other UWF dignitaries in Moscow earlier this month as they tour the scenery of the city. We see clips of them near the Kremlin, touring Luzhiniki Stadium, and meeting Soviet officials at a fancy dinner. The team closes off the show with their final thoughts. They promote Vader's surprise appearance again, mentioning that they were sure he was under contract with WWF but something must have been worked out. We get the rolling credits set to Queen's "We Are The Champions" mixed in with highlights as WOWOW caps off a memorable first anniversary for UWF Newborn.

In reality, NJPW formed a relationship with the Soviet Union in 1988 when Inoki struck a deal with them. That's when Salman Hashimikov, Victor Zangiev, and some other Russians like Berkovich debuted in 1989. NJPW hosted an event in Moscow in December 1989, which was the first pro-wrestling event to take place in Russia. In our game, UWF beat NJPW to the punch and I'm simply following the same playbook.

Card Announcement: UWF Newborn – “July History: 1st Anniversary” July 26th, 1989 Tokyo, Japan Osaka, Japan Osaka Baseball Stadium Masahito Kakihara vs Kiyoshi Tamura Yusuke Fuke vs Manabu Yamada Shigeo Miyato vs Yoji Anjo Minoru Suzuki vs Wayne Shamrock Volk Han vs Dick Vrij Kazuo Yamazaki vs Victor Zangiev Bob Backlund vs Masakatsu Funaki Yoshiaki Fujiwara & Satoru Sayama vs Aleksandr Karelin & David Gobejishvili Akira Maeda vs Nobuhiko Takada

A great start to the G1. Highlights from Day 1 include ZSJ vs O-Khan, Uemura vs Finlay, and Takeshita vs Tsuji. Oleg Boltin's match against Narita was awesome too. I haven't been this excited about a prospect since Takuya Nomura several years ago. Oleg has all the tools to be the future of NJPW. He's a Rolls Royce talent. I hope they don't drop the ball with him.

If you haven't seen it yet, here's the match Karelin had in 1999 against Akira Maeda in RINGS. It's a fun little spectacle.

UWF Newborn – “Shooto Super League I” July 5th, 1989 Tokyo, Japan Korakuen Hall Attendance: 2,005 (sold out) Broadcast: WOWOW (taped) The fans at Korakuen Hall are greeted by Sayama before the show starts. The Shooto ruleset is explained to them with a demonstration from two students in the Shooto gym. The key rules are the following: All competitors will use lightweight gloves and long athletic tights, there will be three five-minute rounds in each match, and fighters can only win via knockout, submission, or TKO. If all three rounds pass without a decisive winner, the match will go to a panel of three judges. No low blows, eye pokes, ground-and-pound, etc. The last two matches will take place under regular UWF rules with a 15:00 time limit. After the demonstration concludes and the competitors are introduced, the evening gets underway! (See videos linked below to get a better visual) Kenji Kawaguchi vs Yuichi Watanabe A highly technical contest that went all three rounds. Both put on great displays of submission grappling but neither could find a breakthrough. Kawaguchi got the better moments though, and was in control for most of round three. This swung the contest in his favor as the ringside judges ruled in his favor via unanimous decision. Kawaguchi defeats Watanabe via decision (unanimous) Naoyuki Taira vs Naoki Sakurada It was evident that both Taira and Sakurada were extremely talented in all facets of striking and grappling, which was why they were both highly touted as up-and-coming prospects from the Shooto gym. Taira and Sakurada pushed each other to round three, but Taira got the decisive moment when he scored a hard high kick. Sakurada couldn’t beat the ten count. Regardless, the crowd was seemingly very impressed by the talent on display from both. Taira defeats Sakurada via TKO, R2 of 3 (3:04) Yasuto Sekishima vs Erik Paulson Paulson seemed very much in control here, and Sekishima never threatened that much as Paulson smothered his opponent with high-level grappling. Paulson made quick work of Sekishima and submitted his opponent with a smother choke 4:37 into round one. Paulson defeats Sekishima via submission (smother choke), R1 of 3 (4:37) Kazuo Yamazaki vs Naoki Sano Yamazaki’s status as Sayama’s first student probably allowed him to be more comfortable than Sano in the Shooto ruleset. Sano seemed to struggle on the grappling side, especially as he adjusted to the use of the lightweight gloves. Yamazaki mainly relied on his striking skills but was able to outmatch Sano when the two found themselves testing each other on the mat. About a minute into round two, Yamazaki was able to break Sano’s turtle defense and quickly locked in a cross-armbreaker for the submission victory. Yamazaki defeats Sano via submission (cross-armbreaker), R2 of 3 (1:16) Yorinaga Nakamura vs Andy Hug Nakamura and Hug tested each other quite well, and Andy Hug was determined to get a win here. Hug scored two early knockdowns and seemed very much in control, but Nakamura steadily fought back and racked up some rope breaks from Hug over time. Hug was a dangerous striker and the audience seemed to be growing fond of his charismatic approach to Karate-based striking, but Nakamura was just a little bit better. By the 12:00 mark, the match was tied 2-2 on points and Nakamura found a breakthrough when he caught one of Hug’s high kicks for a single-leg takedown that turned into a kneebar. Nakamura defeats Hug via submission (kneebar), 12:32 Satoru Sayama vs Maurice Smith The main event delivered as expected and Sayama and Smith treated the fans to a great display of striking which slowly turned into a grappling contest, and that favored Sayama. Sayama and Smith traded early knockdowns, but Sayama scored the rope breaks when he needed to and earned himself a 3-2 lead on points heading into the late part of the match. Smith fought valiantly and was quite clinical with his strikes at times. Sayama seemed to have a bit of trouble but adjusted accordingly. This was his night. Sayama delivered a powerful Tiger suplex and followed it up with a full Boston crab for the submission victory. Sayama defeats Smith via submission (Boston crab), 13:28 Sayama celebrates his victory after shaking hands with Maurice Smith, who earns a solid applause from the fans in attendance. Sayama thanks the fans for coming and promises to bring more Shooto events to them in the future! The WOWOW commentary crew recap the matches and seem quite excited by what Sayama has been developing behind the scenes at his gym. They do their usual sign-off with the rolling credits concluding the broadcast.

I totally approve of ranking Lou Thesz that highly. He's currently in my top 25 but has a decent chance of moving up.

Volk Han and Maurice Smith were a pair that would have been cool to see in RINGS, so it naturally came to mind here. I always enjoyed the grappler vs striker matches Volk Han had, especially against Dick Vrij. Volk Han is one of the best to ever do it IMO.

UWF Newborn – “Fighting Base Yokohama” June 30th, 1989 Yokohama, Japan Yokohama Arena Attendance: 17,000 (sold out) Broadcast: WOWOW (live) The jam-packed Yokohama Arena is buzzing with excitement as the WOWOW commentary crew welcomes the viewing audience to tonight's programming. They hype up tonight's matches while clips of Akira Maeda, Nobuhiko Takada, Bob Backlund, Aleksandr Karelin, and a few others are shown with them backstage getting ready. We get the opening parade of wrestlers as usual, with loud receptions coming from the Yokohama crowd. Akira Maeda thanks the fans for coming and selling out the new arena, and he promises a victory tonight to move on from last month. Nobuhiko Takada and Satoru Sayama speak as well. Bob Backlund is showing eyeing Sayama while he speaks. Soon, the event is ready to get underway with the opening match. Manabu Yamada vs Kiyoshi Tamura The opening bout saw an entertaining and highly energetic affair between two talented rookies, with Tamura looking to secure a second straight win and cement himself as the top student in the first class of UWF “young lions.” Yamada had something to say though and gave Tamura some trouble as he made for a tough opponent on the mat. Tamura appeared to struggle with Yamada’s counter-grappling and transitional work, despite his own quickness and agility. The opening few minutes went in Yamada’s favor, with Tamura having to exhaust two rope breaks due to Yamada’s sound grappling abilities. As one would expect though, Tamura grew into the match and started to make things even as he demonstrated his striking skills were nothing to sneeze at either. Yamada got caught by several palm strikes, allowing Tamura to establish momentum and control his opponent on the canvas as they found themselves there more often than not. Soon it was Yamada’s turn to exhaust a few rope breaks in consecutive order, and the two young lions decided to start throwing more strikes as they both desperately wanted to score a more decisive blow. Despite the swings in momentum throughout the match, the two young wrestlers were evenly matched and the match ended in a fitting draw, with both taking something out of it despite being disappointed in not winning. 15:00 draw Shigeo Miyato vs Masahito Kakihara Kakihara, another talented rookie, had his hands full with Miyato, who was aware of Kakihara’s promising striking skills and did his best to keep the feisty young lion on the mat. Kakihara struggled with Miyato’s ability to control the pace of the match on the canvas, and couldn’t get much going early on with Miyato finding openings for early submission attempts, particularly with the cross-armbreaker. Whenever the two found themselves on their feet, Kakihara attempted to land his strikes on Miyato, but Miyato did well to defend and get his opponent back down to the canvas. Despite Kakihara’s best efforts, this match was all Miyato as he took the young lion to “school” on the art of grappling and how to control a match in UWF. Kakihara just could not get anything going despite his best efforts, and the eventual 3-0 deficit on points demonstrated that. Shortly after the 9:00 mark, Kakihara had a low kick caught by Miyato, who quickly turned it into a heel hook for the submission victory. Miyato defeats Kakihara via submission (heel hook), 9:09 Minoru Suzuki & Wayne Shamrock vs Masakatsu Funaki & Yoji Anjo An interesting matchup on paper turned out to be a very good one in practice as the two teams meshed with their partners well and tested their opponents significantly. Suzuki and Shamrock were on similar wavelengths and both aggressively took their opponents down to the canvas at every opportunity. Funaki did well to defend though, and Anjo was showing improvement in that part of his craft as well. Shamrock scored the first point of the match when he forced Funaki to go for a rope break after a well-timed double-leg takedown followed by a quick kneebar attempt. Both teams were applauded early for their smooth wrestling, and the team of Suzuki and Shamrock continued to enjoy the early momentum. Shamrock was impressive and looked very well-conditioned and Suzuki seemed like he had something to prove, especially when he went up against Funaki. Funaki had his hands full and exhausted another rope break, this time coming from a chokehold attempt from Suzuki. Anjo started to fight back after being tagged in and landed several hard strikes on Suzuki who had no choice but to play defense against the fired-up Anjo. Anjo’s efforts enabled him to score the first point of the match for his team, with a flurry of palm strikes sending Suzuki down to the canvas for a ten count. Suzuki wasted no time in getting back up and took the match back to Anjo. Shamrock evened the match at 1-1 after getting another rope break from Funaki, who was visibly frustrated as he felt his opponents had his number. The match saw the expected swings in momentum, but it appeared quite even and the fans were torn on who to root for. 15 minutes into the match no one had been eliminated, despite both Suzuki and Funaki being pushed to their last point each. In this case, it was fitting that the two were in the ring when a decisive moment came from Suzuki’s double-underhook suplex on Funaki, who was immediately smothered by a determined Suzuki. With a sense of urgency, Suzuki locked in a very tight double wristlock on Funaki and forced him to submit, leaving Anjo on his own. Anjo did his best to defend against Suzuki and Shamrock and picked his spots to get some offense in. Shamrock and Suzuki were too good though, and Shamrock put away Anjo after a belly-to-belly suplex led to a ten count, which Anjo did not beat. Shamrock & Suzuki defeat Funaki & Anjo, 17:18 Mark Rocco & Marty Jones vs Andrei Kopylov & Nikolai Zouev The style contrast in this match made for a unique tag team bout, with the high-level SAMBO skills of Zouev and Kopylov clashing against the classical catch wrestling skills of Marty Jones and Mark Rocco, who incorporated more pro-style offense at times as well. Rocco and Jones were a little unorthodox out of the gate, hoping to catch their dangerous opponents off their feet. Using moves like shoulder tackles, or arm drag takedowns, they both were able to fluster their Russian foes early in the match. Rocco, in particular, was a fly in their ointment and seemed to get the better of Zouev, even on the canvas. It was only a matter of time though before Zouev and Kopylov grew into the match and adjusted to their opponents. They were just too skilled. The British wrestlers were able to hold their ground and did get some nice moments on the mat against their skilled opponents, proving that catch wrestling skills were useful against SAMBO practitioners. Jones in particular confused Kopylov at times with some nice limbwork and controlled the tempo while exerting some painful looking holds. Rocco had the misfortune of finding himself on the canvas with Zouev for an extended period, and despite his efforts to contend with the Soviet grappler, Rocco found himself eliminated after Zouev locked in a painful-looking ‘banana split’ leg submission. This meant Marty Jones was by himself just past the 10:00 mark, and Kopylov did the honors of securing the match in his team’s favor after scoring a single-leg takedown and followed through with a knee crusher. Kopylov & Zouev defeat Jones & Rocco, 11:32 Maurice Smith vs Volk Han As someone would expect from a striker vs grappler matchup with competitors gifted in their respective fields, this was a wildly entertaining bout. Maurice Smith knew what he had to do to get Volk Han on the backfoot and scouted his opponent well. In particular, Maurice Smith knew the gut shot was Volk Han’s weakness and aimed for that area early in the match. Within a few minutes, Maurice Smith landed a sharp thrust kick to Volk Han’s stomach and the Soviet SAMBO wizard immediately fell to his knees for an early ten count. The American kickboxer gained a lot of confidence from this and picked up where he left off after Volk beat the ten count with some time to spare. Volk Han appeared flustered and was in danger of being knocked down a second time. Of course, this naturally meant that Volk needed to conjure some sort of SAMBO sorcery, and that’s exactly what he did. Volk Han gained control of Smith’s wrist after he blocked a flurry of palm strikes, and tossed his opponent around, using his exposed joints to manipulate him. Smith was helpless on the canvas and Volk Han went for a cross-armbreaker soon after, forcing Smith to go for the ropes to break the hold and get out of the bad predicament. The crowd was very pleased by Volk Han’s wizardry and seemed to get behind him as the match continued. For the next few minutes, Volk Han managed to keep Smith mostly to the canvas and frustrated his opponent with his grappling and submission skills, forcing a few more rope breaks from his opponent and earning himself a 2-1 lead on points. The fans were quite enjoying themselves by this point, and Volk Han seemed inevitable. Smith was able to launch a comeback though and found a way through Volk Han’s defense while delivering a variety of kicks and knee strikes. First, Smith caught Volk with a high kick after feinting another attempt at a gutshot. The Soviet grappler beat another ten count, but quickly found himself in a clinch from Smith who delivered a series of sharp knees to Volk’s stomach afterward. The quick succession of knockdowns seemingly put Smith within moments of victory, but Volk managed to beat the third ten count just in the nick of time. Volk came swinging back with a spinning backfist, which Smith had to dodge quickly. Volk spent a few moments grappling with Smith and trying to bring him back down to the mat. Volk finally managed to score a quick kani-basami on Smith, and quickly locked in a cross heel-hook. Smith did his best to reach for the ropes, but Volk held on tight for the submission victory. Han defeats Smith via submission (cross heel-hook), 13:08 Atsushi Onita vs Andy Hug Both wrestlers had their hands full here. Onita, of course, was his usual self - a confident young man who felt he had something to prove as he continued to try and climb the ranks of the promotion. Hug was the dangerous star Karateka who wanted to put his opponent in his place. The two started off the match quite strong respectively. Hug was clinical with his strikes and managed to land quite a few attempts despite Onita’s defensive approach. Onita responded with a few palm strikes but struggled to land any, and attempted to clinch with Hug using a single-leg hook, but Hug was able to grapple through the clinch and reverse it in his favor, and landed a few knee strikes for good measure. Onita did well to stay on his feet and lured his opponent to throw more kicks as he caught one of them and turned it into a takedown, bringing Hug to the canvas as he quickly went on the offensive. Hug was quite cautious and did his best to turtle up from multiple angles as Onita’s Luta Livre background posed quite a threat to him in the current situation. Onita worked diligently to secure a hook and fought through Hug’s makeshift defense, securing a straight arm lock from side control. Hug quickly fought his way to the nearest ropes for the first rope break of the match, and Onita had a slight smile on his face afterward. Hug stuck to his gameplan, and continued to pick his spots at the right opportunity. Onita felt the force of Hug’s kicks and seemed visibly bothered by them each time they landed. Hug landed the first knockdown of the match after connecting with more high kicks, which sent Onita tumbling down. Onita took his time to get up and seemed a bit shell-shocked. Hug had the confidence to continue his assault, and Onita looked to be in deep trouble after Hug scored a second consecutive knockdown to build a 2-0 lead on points. Onita gritted his teeth and beat another ten count, and immediately grappled with Hug to close the distance and get his opponent back down to the canvas. Onita settled things down a bit and managed to keep Hug on the canvas for the next few minutes. Hug was forced to use a second rope break and Onita got a point back. The match developed into a bit of a back-and-forth, and both were quite determined to get a more decisive moment. At around the 12:00 mark, Onita got Hug to the canvas again with a leg sweep takedown and managed to secure his patented knee scissors for the submission victory. Onita defeats Hug via submission (knee scissors), 12:04 Aleksandr Karelin vs Yoshiaki Fujiwara Karelin has been quite impressive in UWF so far, and this was perhaps his first real test against an established star in the promotion. Fujiwara knew he had his hands full, and wrestled quite defensively against the much larger Karelin. The crowd watched intently as the two felt each other out, with Karelin figuring out the best way to attack his opponent while Fujiwara tried to lure Karelin into some traps. Of course, Karelin knew he had the size advantage and closed the distance when it suited him. Fujiwara struggled against Karelin’s strength as the Soviet gold medalist easily wrestled Fujiwara down to the canvas. Here, Fujiwara’s expertise helped him a little bit as he was able to slow things down a little as he took various defensive postures to shut down Karelin’s still-maturing submission skills. Karelin had to rely on his Greco-Roman background to keep Fujiwara busy. Fujiwara continued to defend from underneath for a brief time, before Karelin finally managed to get a simple but effective straight armlock from side control, forcing Fujiwara to go for a quick rope break. Fujiwara presented some trouble for Karelin and used some clever grappling to get Karelin briefly on his back, but again, the size of Karelin presented trouble for Fujiwara as he struggled to get any other offense going. Karelin continued to grow into the match and utilized his powerful throwing techniques more and more as Fujiwara’s defense softened up a bit. The crowd was behind Fujiwara but they were also amazed by Karelin’s show of strength. The two continued to mix in mat wrestling and while Karelin got most of the rope breaks, Fujiwara got a few in as well as he went for some quick but basic holds as ankle locks or armbar attempts. Karelin earned himself a 3-1 lead on points after a powerful belly-to-belly suplex knocked Fujiwara off his feet for a ten count. Fujiwara managed to beat it, but Karelin was a force of nature and was to some degree inevitable. The two fought on the canvas again after Karelin wrestled Fujiwara down again with another Greco-Roman hold. Karelin locked in a gutwrench and Fujiwara fought desperately to escape, but Karelin lifted his opponent for a powerful Karelin Lift and Fujiwara felt the full force of Karelin’s strength as he impacted the mat. Karelin took the opportunity to pin Fujiwara on his back….1…2…3! Karelin earned himself another impressive victory against one of the best UWF had to offer. Karelin defeats Fujiwara via pinfall, 17:10 Bob Backlund vs Satoru Sayama Backlund was on a roll and had earned himself a bit of a buzz after his previous match with Akira Maeda. The American was seemingly gaining more and more fans each time he made his entrance. Sayama would have his hands full, and Backlund quickly proved this as the match commenced. Moving like a well-oiled machine, Backlund’s amateur wrestling background was on full display as he quickly dodged Sayama’s striking attempts and managed to get a variety of takedowns on his opponent. Sayama’s Shooto background did present a challenge for Backlund on the canvas though, and the American found himself going for a few rope breaks early. Sayama established a 1-0 lead on points and seemed confident despite Backlund continuing to present some problems with his smooth takedowns. The two spent a lot of time on the mat over the next few minutes, with Backlund earning some rope breaks back after he went for some submissions of his own, including a Boston crab. With the match now tied at 1-1, Sayama changed things up and focused on his striking, being more tactical in how he approached things. Backlund got caught out a few times and was finally knocked down by a jumping roundhouse. Backlund beat the ten count from Motoyuki Kitazawa and got back up with a smile on his face. He lured Sayama into a grappling exchange and tried to surprise his opponent with some quick pinning maneuvers but to no avail. The match progressed with Sayama continuing to land his sharp strikes when he needed and got a few combos in as well. When Backlund did manage to dodge Sayama’s strikes, he was quite vocal about it and seemed to taunt Sayama at times. Backlund focused on the ground game and did his best to keep Sayama on the mat whenever he had the chance, and this resulted in a mostly grappling-focused match mixed in some spurts of Sayama attempting to change things up with his strikes. By the 15:00 mark, the match was tied at 3-3 on points and Backlund seemed to be getting most of the rope breaks. The decisive moment came when Sayama attempted another jumping roundhouse, but Backlund dodged and managed to secure Sayama’s back as he finished his movement. Sayama struggled but Backlund executed a near-perfect bridging German suplex and Kitazawa counted as Backlund kept Sayama’s shoulders pinned. 1..2…3! Backlund had pulled off another major win and Sayama was visibly frustrated with himself as his opponent celebrated. Backlund defeats Sayama via pinfall, 16:33 Nobuhiko Takada vs Vladimir Berkovich Takada had his hands full with a new opponent in Vladimir Berkovich. The 6’2 350+ pound Greco-Roman grappler presented quite a bit of challenge for Takada at first, who really had no choice but to throw some tentative strikes early to try and soften him up. Whenever Berkovich got his hands on Takada, he was clearly the stronger man and got him down to the canvas easily. Takada managed to keep those moments to a minimum though, and Berkovich’s relatively simple submission skills did not pose much of a threat. Where Takada did find trouble though was when Berkovich was able to execute a variety of suplexes on him, and this gave Berkovich moments where he appeared to be in control of the match. Takada landed on his head quite hard after a massive belly-to-belly suplex from Berkovich, and the fans were audibly concerned. As Takada usually does though, he fought back and landed a series of high kicks on his Soviet opponent. After a brief grappling struggle, Takada managed to give Berkovich a well-executed side suplex, thumping his large opponent against the mat. This allowed Takada to knock down Berkovich twice consecutively with a flurry of powerful strikes. Berkovich kept coming back and beat each ten count, but Takada finally managed to put away his foe with a powerfully connected high kick. This time, Berkovich didn’t get up in time and Takada celebrated his victory with a joyful audience. Takada defeats Berkovich via KO, 9:18 Akira Maeda vs Salman Hashimikov After his shock defeat to Bob Backlund last month, Maeda was looking for redemption here. Salman Hashimikov provided a good opportunity for Maeda to achieve just that. Hashimikov has already cemented himself as a respectable foe in UWF and has won quite a few fans over with his wrestling skills. From the start. Hashimikov pressured Maeda by closing the distance as quickly as he could to avoid Maeda’s hard kicks. Things seemed a bit troubling for the crowd favorite at first, with Hashimikov being able to wrestle Maeda down to the canvas several times and had the dominant position. Maeda had to defend diligently while Hashimikov worked for a shoulder lock or a straight armlock. The fact Maeda had to exhaust an early rope break after Hashimikov seemed to be overpowering him did not help matters much either. After the break, Maeda gained a bit more confidence as he managed to land some sharp kicks on Hashimikov, forcing him on the back foot. Maeda’s fans rallied as well and Maeda was in clear command, with Hashimikov not being able to close the distance as much as he could a few minutes earlier. Maeda scored the first point of the match after knocking down Hashimikov with a combination of palm strikes. It didn’t take long for Hashimikov to shake things off and beat the ten count from Masami Soranaka, but Maeda was immediately on the offensive again. The decorated Soviet athlete took the opportunity to stay close to Maeda while weathering another striking storm and managed to execute a high-angle German suplex on the crowd favorite. Maeda landed pretty hard and had to kick out immediately out of a pinfall attempt, and Hashimikov kept his grip to avoid letting Maeda establish some distance between them. Hashimikov continued his offense and landed a couple more suplexes on Maeda, with the last one causing another ten count, this time for Maeda. Maeda gathered himself calmly though, and the match continued. By the 13:00 mark, the match was tied 2-2 on points after Hashimikov got a few more rope breaks out of Maeda during an extended stretch of grappling on the canvas. Maeda stuck to his strategy of using his strikes to soften up Hashimikov while keeping himself in the match. But perhaps Hashimikov’s weakness was his willingness to get close with Maeda. Maeda took advantage of Hashimikov’s fatigue and locked in a Capture Suplex, which sent the Yokohama crowd into a frenzy. Maeda immediately applied a cross-armbreaker and that was enough to cause the Soviet wrestler to tap, handing Maeda the well-deserved victory. Maeda defeats Hashimikov via submission (cross-armbreaker), 14:22 Maeda celebrates his win with the ecastic Yokohama crowd while they chant "Ma-e-da!" in cadence to Camel's "Captured." Hashimikov has earned some respect from Maeda though, and he shakes hands with him before the Soviet wrestler departs. The WOWOW commentary team recap the events from the evening and promote the upcoming events for July, including Sayama's Shooto event at Korakuen Hall on July 10th, and next month's anniversary show coming to you live from Osaka Baseball Stadium on July 27th! They announce the anniversary show will be sold out with an expected audience of over 23,000. Akira Maeda and Nobuhiko Takada will face off once again in the main event! We also get a surprise announcement that in August, UWF will be holding its first event in the Soviet Union! The first-ever "Moscow Martial Arts Festival" at Luzhniki Stadium on August 24th will be broadcast on WOWOW on tape delay. Much to look forward to! We get the rolling credits as usual set to Queen's "We Are The Champions" with highlights from tonight's matches.

Big moment for Kerry Von Erich to close the show! Ric Flair will have his hands full with his old foe. Scott Norton and Psycho Sid both looked impressive tonight in different ways. I'm also looking forward to seeing what Sgt. Slaughter can accomplish in WCW, and that was a good way to debut him.

I love the Nikita/Jake The Snake promos and interactions. Great job with those. The build for Jumbo/Hulk continues to deliver as well!

Koko/Bushwhackers vs Muta/Midnight Express sounded like a fun match. I could picture that taking pace clearly. Rick Martel looks like a million bucks. I wouldn't want to be standing in his way right now.

That Malenko vs Guerrero match sure sounded like a classic!

Lots of interesting things happening in AWA lately. The Nikita/Jake the Snake buildup has been interesting and I'm enjoying the promos there. Can't wait to see Hogan go up against Jumbo in the squared circle, that will certainly be a blockbuster match!

RAW should be a very interesting addition to WWF's programming. Martel as IC champion in 1989 just feels right as well. It'll be very interesting to see how SummerSlam shapes up.

Looking forward to Great American Bash! Looks like it's already shaping up to be a great event.

I don't see a problem with it.

UWF Newborn – “Fighting Base Fukuoka” May 31st, 1989 Fukuoka, Japan Hakata Starlanes Attendance: 4,000 (sold out) Broadcast: WOWOW (taped) Yusuke Fuke vs Kiyoshi Tamura With both competitors eager to demonstrate their improvement in front of the crowd at Hakata Starlanes, the groundwork for an exciting match was laid early on. Tamura seemed to be quicker than Fuke at first glance and out-grappled his opponent consistently in the opening minutes. Tamura impressed the crowd further with a nice flying armbar, and almost got an early victory but Yusuke fought to the ropes to break the cross-armbreaker attempt that came afterward. Yusuke regained his footing and managed to slow down his firey opponent just enough to regain some momentum in the match. Fuke showed off some of his striking skills and knocked down Tamura with a combo of palm strikes. Tamura got up quickly though, and the two continued to trade points through rope breaks and another knockdown from Fuke. With the match tied 3-3 going towards the 15:00 time limit, Tamura got Fuke off his feet with a snap German suplex, followed by a rear-naked choke. Fuke tried to reach the ropes, but this time he could not muster enough strength and tapped out, giving Tamura the submission victory. Tamura defeats Fuke via submission (rear-naked choke), 14:11 Marty Jones & Mark Rocco vs Yoji Anjo & Shigeo Miyato This match offered an interesting contrast for the crowd, with the team of Marty Jones and Mark Rocco combining classical British catch wrestling with more modern techniques. Anjo and Miyato had a solid background in catch wrestling as well and relied on their submission and grappling skills to try and control the tempo of the bout. Jones and Rocco sought to push things and often tried to use some clever techniques to get Anjo and Miyato off their feet. Their strategy paid off as Anjo and Miyato had to exhaust some early rope breaks. Marty Jones in particular appeared to be very comfortable in the ring and gave both Anjo and Miyato fits with some of his grappling abilities. The Billy Robinson-trained Jones had no problem winning the crowd over again. Rocco’s unorthodox offense was also a challenge for both of his opponents, utilizing speed and movement to create openings for his submission skills, which were nothing to laugh at. Miyato was able to re-establish some momentum eventually and finally was able to slow down Rocco in particular, challenging him on the canvas and showing off his own abilities in catch-as-catch-can wrestling. Both Miyato and Anjo earned back some points over the next few minutes, and Miyato finally was able to send Rocco out of the match with a nicely-timed heel hook. Marty Jones managed to eliminate Anjo with a Manjigatame. Jones and Miyato squared off for the rest of the match, and after another great display of catch wrestling, Jones secured the victory for his team after catching Miyato with a double wristlock. Jones & Rocco defeat Anjo & Miyato, 20:11 Wayne Shamrock& Joe Malenko vs Masakatsu Funaki & Naoki Sano The team of Wayne Shamrock and Joe Malenko combined experience with raw talent, but one could argue Shamrock’s raw talent has been refined at a quick pace since his debut in UWF Newborn. They proved to be a tough matchup for Masakatsu Funaki and Naoki Sano, which was a solid duo that was brimming with talent and potential as well. Funaki was a handful for both Malenko and Shamrock, giving both wrestlers all they could handle while arguably keeping himself and Sano in the match. Sano wasn’t useless, but his relative lack of experience did not allow him to outwrestle Shamrock or Malenko. Malenko’s strategy was to control the tempo of the match, keeping the two Japanese young guns relatively grounded and giving Shamrock a chance to take advantage of the openings to score more damage. Sano was vulnerable to this strategy and was the first to be eliminated. Sano wasn’t completely washed out of the match, but it was clear he was behind his two opponents. Malenko managed to score the elimination after dragging Sano down for a Fujiwara armbar in the middle of the ring, forcing Sano to tap. Funaki kept himself in the match though, and snagged a heel hook on Shamrock after the American was perhaps a bit too eager to lock up with Funaki to get one up over a potential rival. Funaki and Malenko had a great closing stretch, and their grappling skills were on full display for the crowd. Malenko was just a little bit better tonight though, and wore down Funaki enough to allow a Bridging German suplex, which kept Malenko’s opponent down on the canvas long enough for the pinfall victory. Malenko & Shamrock defeat Funaki & Sano, 17:44 Minoru Suzuki vs Mark Fleming Mark Fleming had the experience and knowledge from training with Lou Thesz, but Minoru Suzuki had the youth and eagerness to get back in the win column. Fleming’s strategy wasn’t anything unique. He attempted to control the pace of the match by using his grappling skills to slow down and limit Suzuki’s offense. This appeared to work at first, with Fleming presenting all sorts of trouble for Suzuki on the canvas. Suzuki attempted to use his speedy transitions to counter Fleming’s offense on the mat, but Fleming was able to prevent most of these attempts from working through his craft. In particular, Fleming focused on the arms of Suzuki to throw his opponent off his game. Fleming built up a 2-0 lead on points through several rope breaks, and the crowd grew more desperate for the young Suzuki to launch a comeback. With a second wind behind him, Suzuki battled back and used some unorthodox moves like dropkicks and running forearms before resorting back to his grappling, which has been improving over the past few months. Suzuki’s mixture of both pro-style and shoot-style offense allowed him to quicken the pace of the match, and Fleming struggled to deal with a more focused Suzuki as he picked up points through rope breaks and eventually settled things at 2-2 after a double-underhook suplex forced Fleming to take his time to get back on his feet. Suzuki finished things off with a side suplex followed by a Gotch-style piledriver, which allowed the younger wrestler to pick up a well-deserved win over Fleming via pinfall. Suzuki defeats Fleming via pinfall, 15:28 Nikolai Zouev vs Dennis Koslowski Zouev and Koslowski were well-matched opponents for each other, with both relying on skilled grappling finesse, albeit influenced by different backgrounds with Koslowski relying on American freestyle wrestling while Zouev utilized his background in SAMBO. The crowd was very impressed by the technical display, and both refused to go for rope breaks in the first several minutes as they preferred to rely on their knowledge to get out of difficult situations. Koslowski mixed up submission attempts with creative pinfalls, but Zouev came prepared and found his way out of both attempts to end the match in Koslowski’s favor. Zouev seemed more focused on going for the submission win, and Koslowski had to contend with creative leg entries that threw him off balance and allowed the Soviet specialist to go for various leg hooks. The stalemate broke around the 7:00 mark when Zouev finally forced Koslowski to go for a rope break after a smooth transition into a kneebar. The American continued a mixed strategy of going for both pinfall and submission attempts and used his pinfall attempts to open up avenues to attack the limbs of his Soviet opponent. They traded rope breaks until both were tied at 1-1 by the 12:00 mark. Koslowski finally managed to get Zouev with a nice freestyle pinning maneuver, and Ryogaku Wada seemed ready to commence the count, but the Soviet sambist somehow found a way to reverse Koslowski’s hold into a great leg lock of his own and locked in pretzel-like kneebar hold that forced Koslowski to tap, giving Zouev the surprising victory. Zouev defeats Koslowski via submission (kneebar), 14:55 Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs David Gobejishvili A clash of styles was apparent here, with David Gobejishvili using his background in Chidaoba and freestyle wrestling to try and overpower Fujiwara with a combination of strength and technique. Fujiwara wasn’t intimidated though, and relied on his extensive background in catch wrestling to control the pace of the match when needed. David had the size advantage, but Fujiwara found a way to limit this by snatching onto the Georgian’s long limbs whenever an opportunity arose, either via wristlocks or standing leglocks. David quickly found out why Fujiwara has a well-deserved reputation as a defensive wrestler and struggled to establish early momentum with his creative offense. Whenever he tried to get Fujiwara off his feet with a clever throw attempt, Fujiwara turned it into some sort of hook as he managed to get the 6’7 Georgian to the canvas. The crowd at Hakata Starlanes was thoroughly impressed and rallied behind Fujiwara for the entire match. David found himself using several rope breaks as Fujiwara enjoyed a good amount of control over the match, and his opponent established a solid 2-0 lead on points by the 8:00 mark. David was a sound professional though, and never quite gave up hope as he finally found ways to break through Fujiwara’s defense and get him off his feet with a huge fireman’s carry throw. David quickly established control on the canvas and worked for a shoulder lock as Fujiwara, now a bit fatigued, struggled to get the huge frame of the Georgian off him. Fujiwara was forced to go for his first rope break, and more followed as David settled into the match and found his flow, seizing upon the openings that were now opening up with Fujiwara on the back foot. David continued to combine his Chidaoba and freestyle wrestling and was able to grapple Fujiwara to the canvas more often. After landing a belly-to-belly suplex, Fujiwara had to take his time to get back up and David got a point on the board at 2-1. After beating the ten count, Fujiwara fought back furiously and tricked David into the receiving end of several headbutts. This allowed Fujiwara to get David back on the canvas for a Fujiwara armbar. The Georgian did his best to escape but submitted to the inevitable. Fujiwara defeats Gobejishvili via submission (Fujiwara armbar), 14:29 Bad News Allen vs Casemiro “Rei Zulu” Martins When one of the toughest men in wrestling goes up against one of the toughest men in Brazilian Vale Tudo, sparks, of course, are going to fly. Almost immediately, Casemiro and Allen traded palm strikes and body punches as they attempted to score an early knockdown. Allen appeared to get some good hits on Casemiro, but Casemiro fought through the contact and managed to clinch with Allen, and fought some attempts from his opponent to get him off his feet. This allowed Casemiro to land several knee strikes and score the first knockdown after Allen dropped to his knee to recover from the sudden surge of sharp pain from Casemiro’s powerful knees. Allen didn’t take much time to beat the count and quickly got back into the match. This time, Allen opted to grapple with Casemiro and use his Judo techniques to get back at Ruas. Casemiro’s grappling background clashed against this, and the two had an extended grappling exchange with neither willing to allow their opponent to get control of the match. Allen managed to get Casemiro off his feet with some spectacular throwing maneuvers, but Casemiro proved his worth on the canvas, defending Allen’s attempts to score a submission. With Allen attempting to go for a cross-armbreaker, Casemiro managed to reverse their respective positions and got Allen on his back while keeping control of his opponent’s legs. Allen had to desperately fight off a kneebar attempt from Casemiro and went for the ropes to break the hold. Allen returned the favor a few minutes later with a beautiful sweeping takedown, which allowed him to finally lock in a cross-armbreaker. Of course, Casemiro went for the ropes as well. After a series of knockdowns and rope breaks via grappling exchanges, Casemiro held a 3-2 lead on points. Allen exhausted everything he had in his tank but still looked determined. After another clinch, Casemiro left himself open to an armdrag takedown from Allen who immediately applied another cross-armbreaker attempt. This time, Casemiro felt the squeeze and decided to tap, handing Bad News Allen a parting victory as the crowd at Hakata Starlanes applauded Bad News Allen for his contributions to UWF Newborn over the past few months. Bad News Allen defeats Martins via submission (cross-armbreaker), 15:11 Satoru Sayama vs Yorinaga Nakamura In a rematch from their previous encounter where Yorinaga got a shot victory over his former instructor, Sayama was determined not to have a repeat performance and did well to slow down Yorinaga’s offense in the opening minutes of the match. Yorinaga let the sparks fly and unleashed a flurry of strikes, but Sayama dodged and countered most of them, landing some clean hits of his own. Sayama was able to get Yorinaga down to the canvas, where both displayed slick grappling maneuvers. Sayama seemed just a bit quicker, allowing him to establish control in the opening phase. It seemed Sayama surprised Yorinaga by going for one or two pinfall attempts, but Yorinaga quickly got out of each. In response, Yorinaga was almost able to get a rear-naked choke locked in, but Sayama quickly went for the ropes to break the hold. Back in the stand-up, Sayama was flashy with his jumping kicks and spinning backfists, which caught Yorinaga off-guard at one point, resulting in a knockdown. Sayama’s Shooto co-instructor was quick to get back up but the crowd was solidly behind his opponent. Nakamura attempted to land some more strikes, but Sayama made things difficult and took down his opponent once again to the mat. Things were a little more even this time, with Nakamura managing to get Sayama into some difficult positions at times. Sayama was just a little bit better though, and established a 2-1 lead on points after an ankle lock attempt led to another break from Nakamura. Sayama had more tricks up his sleeve and lured Nakamura into a sudden European Clutch attempt. Nakamura was a bit shellshocked, and could not kick out in time as Sayama secured the three count. Sayama celebrated his victory while Nakamura came to terms with how he could be caught off guard by a move like that. Sayama defeats Nakamura via pinfall, 14:55 Nobuhiko Takada vs Norman Smiley Smiley has certainly earned his top 10 ranking in UWF so far, and the talented Gotch-trained wrestler had another chance to defeat Takada, with their first meeting last year ending in a victory for Takada. Takada came out to a very warm greeting from the fans at Hakata Starlanes, and Smiley was greeted by an enthusiastic bunch as well. In the opening stages, Smiley appeared to have the advantage as he used smart limbwork and counterwork to hold off Takada’s offense, particularly his striking. Takada found himself on the canvas several times, trying to hold off Smiley as he looked for his openings patiently. The crowd watched intently as Smiley and Takada continued to test each other on the canvas before both rolled to the ropes for a clean break. Over the next few minutes, Takada finally started to get some clean hits on Smiley, using his trademark kicks to soften up his opponent and get the crowd more vocally involved. Smiley was able to check some of Takada’s strikes, but Takada clearly had his opponent on the back foot and the crowd sensed it. Takada continued to stalk his opponent and scored an early knockdown after connecting a combo of palm strikes and kicks aimed at Smiley’s abdomen. Smiley was able to beat the ten count and quickly recovered as he took Takada back to the canvas and immediately started working for a kneebar. Takada put up a struggle, but Smiley was determined to get the hold and forced Takada to go for the ropes to break the hold. The match developed into a bit of a stalemate, with Takada and Smiley exchanging rope breaks on the canvas, although Takada scored another knockdown towards the end after connecting with another combo. Takada built himself a 3-1 lead on points and was in control of the match. The decisive moment came when Smiley clinched with Takada, allowing Smiley’s opponent to snag him for a huge side suplex followed by a double wristlock. Smiley did his best to escape the hold and nearly reached the ropes, but Takada held on tight and finally scored the submission victory when Smiley relented and tapped. Takada defeats Smiley via submission (double wristlock), 16:22 Akira Maeda vs Bob Backlund Maeda made his way to the ring, marching to the tune of Camel’s “Captured” as Hakata Starlanes made it clear who they were backing. Backlund followed next, and a normal wrestler perhaps would have felt the intimidation of following up on such a big act as Akira Maeda, but Backlund was no normal wrestler. Coming out to Dvorak’s Symphony Number 9, Movement 4, Backlund walked confidently to the ring to meet his long-awaited opponent face-to-face. With Masami Soranaka breaking down the rules for both, the bell soon followed and the match got underway. The crowd launched into their “Ma-e-da! Ma-e-da!” chants right away, and Maeda immediately got to work with a series of low kicks aimed to deal some early damage. Backlund felt some of them, and vocally made it known, perhaps as a way to tease his opponent. Backlund got into his trademark stance as he looked to clinch with Maeda, and Maeda was happy to oblige. Maeda seemed to be in control at first, with Backlund mainly defending himself from Maeda’s calculated but formidable grappling skills. Backlund was weary of being pinned and did his best to stay off his back as he tried to incorporate some tricky counterwork to try and catch Maeda off guard. Maeda remained in control though, and earned himself an early rope break after getting a single-leg Boston crab on the American. The match continued as a mostly grappling affair, with Maeda picking his spots to soften up Backlund with a variety of strikes. Backlund was able to land a few body punches in return but chose to keep the match on the canvas as often as he could to wear down his opponent. As the match progressed, Backlund was able to get Maeda in increasingly difficult positions, and his amateur wrestling background became beneficial with the methodical pace that had set the tone. While Maeda was no slouch when it came to grappling, his catch wrestling skills weren’t as refined as his striking abilities. Backlund evened the match at 1-1 on points after catching Maeda with a straight armlock, with the simple hold doing enough to make Maeda think about breaking the hold. Chants for Maeda broke out again, with the crowd sensing that Maeda had a lot on his hands with Backlund. Maeda found himself dealing with an increasingly confident Backlund and the former WWF and PCW star was able to get Maeda up in the air for a German suplex, which he attempted to bridge into for the pinfall. Maeda was able to kick out at the 2 count though, and the crowd applauded with some relief. Maeda answered back with a series of kicks, and Backlund was caught off his feet for Maeda’s first knockdown of the match. Backlund gathered himself relatively quickly and beat Soranaka’s ten count with some time to spare. Maeda continued his assault intending to keep Backlund on the backfoot. After about a minute, Backlund got knocked down again, giving Maeda a 3-1 lead points. Backlund appeared a bit frustrated as he got back on his feet in time to beat the ten count again. Backlund came storming back, landing a few body punches and palm strikes on Maeda before lifting him into the air again for a belly-to-belly suplex. Backlund immediately went for side control on the ground and attempted to lock in a cross-armbreaker before Maeda went to the ropes to break the hold, preventing Backlund from putting him in any further danger. With both back up on their feet, Backlund went for an ankle pick on Maeda, but Maeda calmly held his ground and managed to stay even with Backlund as they went to the canvas again. Maeda managed to hold his ground this time, and worked his to a seated armbar position, with Backlund doing his best to break the hold or reverse it. Maeda eventually got it locked in, and Backlund shouted “woooah!” “woooah!” as Maeda leveraged his arm more and more. Backlund finally had to scramble to the ropes to break the hold, giving Maeda another rope break and putting him closer to a commanding 4-1 lead on points. The closing moments of the match came soon afterward when Maeda and Backlund were both exchanging strikes on their feet. Maeda appeared to be close to another knockdown, but Backlund caught him in the clinch and lifted him for a sudden but strong Olympic slam. Backlund attempted to lock in the Chicken Wing Crossface but had to settle for a double wristlock as Maeda did his best to fight his way out. Backlund changed his plans as Maeda stalled his attempt to get the hold locked in, and transitioned to a crucifix pin instead, using his amateur wrestling skills to get Maeda on his shoulders. Maeda found himself in a difficult spot and did his best to kick out, but the moment came and went in an instant. Soranaka counted the 1-2-3, giving Backlund the victory. Backlund jumped into the air like an excited schoolboy as the stunned silence of Hakata Starlanes overcame the chants for Maeda that were erupting just minutes earlier. Backlund climbed the nearest turnbuckle to celebrate his victory as Nobuyuki Furuta made the result official. Backlund defeats Maeda via pinfall, 18:09 After the match, Maeda does not look very pleased and confronts Backlund as the American continues to celebrate. Backlund and Maeda have a staredown before Maeda slaps Backlund across the face! Things look like they are about to explode until several other UWF wrestlers rush the ring to keep the two separated. Maeda points at Backlund, but Backlund just stares and laughs. Things calm down a bit, and Maeda exits the ring, but he's still clearly pissed off about something. Backlund applauds the fans before leaving himself, and the WOWOW commentary crew recaps the evening for the TV audience. They discuss Backlund's upset over Maeda and the kerfuffle afterward. They seem perplexed, saying Backlund got the victory clean. Perhaps Maeda felt disrespected by Backlund? The show closes with highlights set to Queen's "We Are The Champions."

Bad News Allen will return to the WWF from loan as of June 1st. (He will appear on my show that will be posted soon, which will be dated May 31st)

(OOC: A more "digest" version of my usual update, but I just wanted to keep the hype train going while I am on vacation/traveling.)

Yeah, like Rain said, Baseball Magazine actually covered wrestling. I've been using the names of real magazines like Tokyo Sports and Weekly Pro. As for the Ruas/Takada palm strike, incidents like that were not uncommon in shoot style. Maeda and Yamazaki had a match end in a similar fashion in 1989. The matches were worked, but guys were encouraged to hit each other pretty hard. They weren't trying to knock each other out of course, but the strikes were supposed to be stiffer than usual. When the first UWF was launched in 1984-1985, wrestlers had to be reminded to protect themselves