[1990-06-21-UWF-Idea] Akira Maeda vs Nobuhiko Takada

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Childs]

This blew away their January match. I know I often rag on Takada, but he turned in a really aggressive performance, to the point that the crowd treated Maeda as a sympathetic underdog. The key difference here was that every time they went to the mat, I believed someone was going for a submission and that the other guy desperately wanted to get the hell out. I loved the sequence where Maeda was rocking Takada with knees only for Takada to catch him in a heel hook. It was almost like Takada channeling Fujiwara. There were some great exchanges near the finish, with both guys eating big shots and staggering around like they were in the late rounds of a heavyweight fight. The finishing submission was nicely executed as well. This was probably their second best match behind the 11/10/88 classic. Great shit.

[Loss]

Yeah, to this point, Takada has been in the best UWF matches of the year. This is another excellent showing, miles better than the January match, with Takada pulling off one of the best performances of his career. There is so much drama and urgency, which is what really puts this over the top.

[PeteF3]

I thought the middle of this dragged as badly as any other UWF match I've been cold on, but the opening was really hot with Takada basically suckering Maeda into getting anklelocked, and the closing sequence was tremendous. We get that same "impending dread" feeling with Maeda about to hit the capture suplex which will surely finish Takada off. Takada manages to slip out of the frying pan right into the fire, and has nowhere else to go when Maeda kneebars him.

[soup23]

Awesome match where everything felt like a struggle and it really built to one perfectly timed submission to being the equalizer.

[Kevin Ridge]

Takada seemed better early using some good looking striking combinations. They kind of lose me slightly in the middle of the match but gets better when they start striking again and using the KO spots. Maeda looks to do the capture suplex but instead turns into the leg submission. Match got much better as it went on.

[Zenjo]

Sharp, hard hitting action from the get-go. Both men were at the top of their game, and the audience were most appreciative. Well paced, with a nice variety of holds and strikes from two masters of the style. Towards the end Takada was looking younger and stronger, he had clearly overtaken Maeda. The veteran was able to use his experience to sneak the fortunate win. Given the flow and feel of the match the other result would have been more fitting.

[Cox]

This was well worked and managed to keep my attention for most of the match, no small feat when it's 1am and I'm ready for bed. I find UWF hit or miss, but this was a solid hit for me.

[garretta]

From the time Takada scored two straight knockdowns to tie up the match at 2 1/3, this really felt like a struggle to avoid every possible rope break and knockdown situation, which is exactly what it should feel like. There was still a lot of laying around early, though.

 

The crowd seemed way into this on Maeda's side, and they erupted when he pulled out the victory. Too often, matches like this only produce polite applause, so it was nice to see a crowd really into one of them for a change.

 

I've never seen one of these matches hit the five-knockdown limit; one guy or the other always submits before then. Do any of you know of a match that was won on knockdowns instead of a submission?

[PeteF3]

UWF/UWFI had some TKO finishes, but they were very rare. The best were when Vader showed up in UWFI, and he would just bulldoze his way through the opponent's points in 5 minutes.

[El-P]

Wat can you say ? Just a classic match. Both guys are awesome here, the sense of flair and drama of Takada really shines, while Maeda manages to get sympathy for himself as an underdog against the young star. Terrific exchanges, great urgency, great selling of KO's and near-submissions. Shoot-style at its best (and no, I don't mean at its technical best, but shoot-style isn't strictly about that).

[drew wardlaw]

The big thing here for me, and with all good shoot style matches, is believability. They worked with urgency and because of that they made me believe a devastating end could come at any time. Really well done.

[JKWebb]

http://placetobenation.com/countdown-top-500-matches-of-the-90s-350-301/2/

 

#306

 

I liked this one when I went through the 90 YB. Takada did standout to me, and I was hit or miss with UWF too. It took me a few mins to really get into it, but I ended up really enjoying this one. Nothing to add that hasn't been said, but I'll say coming out the end of 1990 it wasn't one of the matches that left a lasting impression with me.

[dawho5]

I loved this match for the aggression and the fire Takada showed. Maeda teasing the suplex early in the finishing run, then going to it again to set up the kneebar was absolute genius.

[superkix]

Fuck yeah, this has all the urgency and sense of struggle and survival of a high-stakes match-up, and Takada actually looked like a legitimate badass here, working smart to avoid Maeda's capture suplex. Right out of the gate, he fires off some slaps, blocking Maeda's retaliatory kicks and grabbing hold of a stray, turning it into an ankle hold, and then grapevine-ing the hold to force Maeda to the ropes. When they're on the mat looking for something worthwhile, Maeda's maneuvers himself into a front mount and unloads on Takada with slaps of his own. Maeda misses a spin kick and Takada's able to captialze with a heel hook, using his foot to press Maeda's head back to prevent him from breaking the hold. I like how Takada sits back when Maeda snags the leg for the capture suplex. He snaps on Maeda with some piss-quick slaps, catching him in the eyeball, then uses a waterwheel drop to set-up the single leg crag. Loved the closing stretch of this match, hot damn! Maeda shoves off the side headlock takedown, kicking Takada in the head and then using his foot to break Takada’s arm away in order to lock in the cross armbar...but Takada’s too close to the ropes! Takada catches another kick with an ankle hold, ducks the spin kick and again lays down to avoid the capture suplex, but Maeda's like "fuck you" and applies the kneebar to submit Takada. Awesome.