[1991-09-26-UWFi-Moving On] Nobuhiko Takada vs Bob Backlund

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Loss]

Backlund heels it up and it's awesome. This is over before it starts, but the 1:15 it lasts is really fun.

[PeteF3]

Obviously a big letdown, as Backlund unleashes some awesome forearms and a back suplex before sustaining an injury when Takada kicks him in the gut and the match comes to an end. Past history and Backlund's opening flurry suggest this really could have gone somwhere special.

[Kevin Ridge]

Out of curiosity was this intended to be so short? There felt like no build up to this sudden finish.

[soup23]

Nothing as we get a minute of action with Backlund showing aggression then suffering an ill-fated injury.

[jdw]

On the earlier question, it appears to have been the plan, as Backlund came back in November which Kevin eventually got to:

 

http://prowrestlingonly.com/index.php?/topic/18853-nobuhiko-takada-vs-bob-backlund-uwfi-moving-on-110791

 

Less sure on *why* they chose to be goofy here.

[...TG]

What a letdown! I would have thought that Japanese shootstyle would have been something Backlund could really get into. Good to know there's a rematch coming up.

[DR Ackermann]

This was looking like it could have been great before the injury. Backlund looked really good mixing in his pro-style moves into the shoot environment. Too bad.

[garretta]

I think this was done the way it was to present Backlund as someone who was foolish to try shoot-style since he had no background in it. There isn't an American equivalent to this, because in America the untrained combatants end up going over more often than not, mostly as faces to boot. I'm surprised one kick was all it took, though; you'd think Takada would have at least wanted to show off a few of his moves and strikes before putting the invader away.

 

I can't believe that anyone wanted to see Backlund try this again, but since they obviously did I'd like to see what he can do in this style when he's given a real chance.

[Jingus]

Backlund had already wrestled longer shoot-style matches with Takada in 1988 and Masa Funaki in 1989. This wasn't his first go-round with the style.

[garretta]

Come to think of it, I remember reading about those matches in PWI. Thanks for the correction, Jingus!

[Childs]

His match with Takada from '88 was one of the best from the second run of UWF.

[dawho5]

Not sure why this was so short, but ti was really fun while it lasted!

[superkix]

Not much else to add here. Backlund's little rush in the corner with forearms and backdrop was cool.