[1992-12-20-UWFi-Double Takada] Nobuhiko Takada vs Naoki Sano

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Loss]

This is awesome stuff. There's not a ton of Takada on the '92 set, but this is my favorite match of his all year. I love Sano being prepared for all of his best strikes and having an immediate counter in mind. Despite being the bigger star, it's Takada who ends up getting desperate, and his win almost comes across as a fluke. Cool dynamic.

[Tim Evans]

Nice match. Not my favorite style but it worked.

[shoe]

I thought this was a really great match. Takada's kicks were nasty. Both being good workers in the pro style helps in they both know that they need some sizzle in working this style, and they incorporate it.

[PeteF3]

This is the most deliberately paced shootstyle match since the mid-'80s, and there are no knockdowns and maybe one or two rope breaks. But it blows that '80s stuff away because the work is so focused, with Sano constantly on the verge of being placed in a match-ending submission and having to fight his way out. This is also one of the best representations of Takada wrestling as The Man--when Sano makes his comeback it comes off as a guy simply trying to keep his head above water, before Takada reasserts himself.

[WingedEagle]

Quite the contrast from Takayama-Kanehara, with this almost entirely mat-based. For the first time all year I get a sense of the little things that made Takada such a big deal -- his facials, quick strikes and ability to move around and carry himself like a star who earned his charisma and position rather than just letting the match come to him. He absolutely controlled how you appreciated this. Takada strong with the little things -- facials, movements that put him over as a big deal and star. Sano more than holds his own with a lot of nifty counters that seem to get him over as a credible underdog much like Koshinaka vs. Tenryu.

 

***3/4

[Zenjo]

Double Takada is an awesome show name. You'd never guess that the guy had an inflated ego. Sano had transitioned very well from his Junior days to shoot style as seen in the 7/26/91 MOTYC against Minoru Suzuki. This bout certainly wasn't near that level, although it was a good 'un. They started off slow and when business started picking up it seemed like they were going places. Rather than head to the finish they then slowed it down again and it ended out of nowhere. Hopefully there'll be a rematch as they could well produce better next time out.

[Robert S]

The matwork stuff here was more loose as you would normally see in shootstyle wrestling. Maybe I am getting conditioned by all the RINGS greatness for me to notice that, I don't know.

[garretta]

Once I realized I wouldn't see any scoring on screen, my interest dropped to nothing. I'm a Southern wrasslin' fan who watched this because it happened to be on a disc I paid for. I'm not a shootstyle expert, nor do I ever plan to be one. These two could have been having the greatest match ever, but I wanted to see who was scoring points. If they don't give enough of a damn to show me that, I don't give enough of a damn to try and figure out who looked prettier rolling around on the mat. Period.

[superkix]

This is easily Takada's best singles match in UWFi through 1992, and it comes after a warm up match against Dennis Koslowski. Takada, who is usually not very interesting on the mat, worked a stronger ground game against Sano. Sano, on the otherhand, had Takada on the ropes with chokes and single legs throughout. But it's DOUBLE TAKADA so he's going to shine here, which he did. He hits a nice Saito suplex>rear mount>face lock combo and he blasts Sano with a nasty high kick. Sano is able to grab the leg and German suplex Takada but when Takada tries to sneak in for a leglock attempt, Sano's able to roll him up with one of his own. They lay into each other with slaps and kicks and there are some good moments of struggle heading into the finish. They fight over armbars but Takada obviously wins out and picks up the submission. Good stuff!