[1996-12-25-UWFi] Kazushi Sakuraba vs Hiromitsu Kanehara

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Loss]

Great matwork, with Kanehara impressing me way more than Sakuraba, and a great finish, with the ankle lock scaring the hell out of me.

[Zenjo]

I love the dubbed entrance themes they used to have. The action is decent enough but the crowd is very quiet and there's an undercard vibe. Matches like this benefit from having commentary, which I don't think UWFI events ever had.

[PeteF3]

Scientificwrestling.com apparently has (legally) uploaded all 75 episodes of the Bushido series, which is UWFI with English commentary. So there's that, though I don't think it has the end-of-the-line matches like this.

 

I'm about over this company--this match is fine, but with the promotion about dead, many top stars gone, and having been emasculated by NJPW and then WAR it doesn't really feel like there are any stakes anymore. It's a Takada vanity project with some talented undercarders--okay, maybe it always was, but it feels more transparent now.

[Zenjo]

Puro with English language commentary is the stuff of nightmares for me. Muted would be preferable. I should never have complained.

[soup23]

I dug this and thought Sakuraba looked good on the mat. The transitions were fast and the mat work and struggle was gritty. The finish did come out as a surprise but felt violent enough to be a fitting end to the fight overall. The aesthetics of this building also added to the atmosphere. ***3/4

[tim]

Fun match with some good grappling. Sakuraba looks impressive and did some cool stuff; at one point he looked to be working for a shoot sharp shooter! Good ending with a killer looking submission.