Hamada's UWF

[pol]

I just discovered that this promotion existed. Can anyone fill me in on the details? There's not even a Cagematch or WrestlingData page for it. When did it form? When did it dissolve? Why did Hamada elect to use the name of an already existing promotion? I assume Sasuke got his start here; did it debut any other notable workers?

[El McKell]

It has a cagematch page: http://www.cagematch.net/?id=8&nr=807

I seems to have started in 1990 and dissolved when Hamada went to Michinoku Pro in 1995. Kaz Hayashi, Men's Teioh, TAKA and Jinsei Shinzaki all wrestled there briefly before the Michinoku-Pro debut show/

​Can't tell you why Hamada called it that, I'm not sure that a UWF existed in Japan when it was formed though. Why are there so many companies in wrestling history called UWF?

[pol]

Thanks for that, there seems to be a lot of weirdness with the name that made Googling it hard. There's even a Wikipedia page! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_Lucha_Libre

 

Strange that the initialism 'UWF' was used considering no name seems to match up with that...

[cheapshot]

Brought back memories of Monkey Magic Wakita. Lots of coverage in the WO back issues.

[ohtani's jacket]

The origins of Hamada's UWF are a bit complicated. Hamada had been working as a referee and trainer for the original JWP The promotion was on the bones of its ass and management had begun working with Hisashi Shinma to transition the group from a women's wrestling group to something similar to the original UWF with a mixed roster and different styles of wrestling. Onita was working for the promotion as a sales rep to pay back some debt on a failed business venture, and they ran an angle which was supposed to lead to a Hamada vs. Onita fight, but the crowd reacted negatively and I believe the JWP girls opposed the idea as well. Onita left and formed FMW while Hamada worked with Shinma's son, an advertising industry guy, to found the UWF. I believe the name is in reference to pop's breakaway promotion, which Hamada worked for as its leading lightweight star.

 

Hamada's UWF started the careers of Ultimo Dragon, Gado and Jado, and all of the M-Pro guys. The latter spun off and created M-Pro in 1993 while the former jumped to WAR.

[pol]

Thanks for the knowledge OJ. Wish all this stuff was documented in English somewhere.

[ohtani's jacket]

There's a bit of info in the Observer recap forum.

 

WON 11/28/88

 

 

 

JWP is looking to expand and add men's matches to their shows. Hisashi Shinma, who everyone thought was back in New Japan, appeared on the 10/28 show at Korauen Hall and said he wanted to form a men's group to do joint cards with JWP. Later that night, AtsushiOnita came out of the audience to attack referee El Gran Hamada and bloody him up. "Onita was a former jr. heavyweight champion for Baba in the early 80s and a protege of Terry Funk and a real good worker who retired in 1984 due to knee problems. It was very surprising for him to do this because I was told the Babas considered Onita like a son to them." Ryuma Go and Nuboyashi Sugawara are also expected to join the group, since they have nowhere else to work.

 

WON 12/12/88

 

 

 

-- "Now does this angle sound familiar or not, except it's really not an angle -- Hisashi Shinma (former New Japan president) and Naoki Otsuka (a leading New Japan promoter who helped put together Choshu's original jump from New Japan to All Japan, then was double-crossed by Choshu when he jumped back) are getting together to form a promotion and they are calling it 'The Original UWF'. If you recall, Shinma actually started the UWF as a regular pro wrestling outfit in April of 1984 using Maeda as the top star after luring Maeda from New Japan, then was booted out of power in a power play with Satoru Sayama (original Tiger Mask). At that point, the old UWF went to its so-called shooting style with emphasis on kicks and submissions and eliminating high spots or 'fake-looking' moves. Shinma at a press conference said he would have his wrestlers, and he's trying to lure the top karate guys to his group, battle against Maeda or Takada for the UWF name. Shinma is trying to destroy the legitimate image of the UWF because they forced him out of power and changed 'his' promotion. Of course, Maeda won't accept any challenges. Shinma is forming his own group from the remains of the JWP promotion, which went bankrupt recently. The word is out that Shinma and his karate guys are going to show up at Maeda 12/22 card in Osaka (Takada vs. Backlund) and challenge Maeda after he beats Norman Smiley, which could be interesting. Shinma promoted a show at Korauken Hall on 12/3 featuring women matches, karate matches and El Gran Hamada vs. Atsushi Onita in the main event. Shinma then leaves for Mexico and the U.S. from 12/7 to 12/15 to book and scout foreign talent and wants to open up a new promotion with the help of Otsuka and karate gyms in April."

[ohtani's jacket]

Apparently, Onita was working in the construction industry as a labourer before he got the JWP gig. I think he also had a stint as a delivery man.

 

Shinma Sr wasn't directly involved with the management of Hamada's UWF, but his finger prints were all over it. If you combine JWP, FMW and Hamada's UWF, you'd get Shinma's vision for what his second UWF would have been like.

 

The original JWP's history is quite interesting.

[Indikator]

Didn't Gedo and Jado start with Takeshi Gundam and debut in Europe?

[ohtani's jacket]

Depends what you classify as their start, I guess.

[pol]

Those Observer excerpts are interesting. The mix of women, karate guys and luchadors sounds a lot like the early FMW shows. Striking how hard it evidently was to get decent native male talent as an indie in the late 80s/early 90s.