[1985-09-11-UWF] Nobuhiko Takada vs Kazuo Yamazaki

[Superstar Sleeze]

Nobuhiko Takada vs Kazuo Yamazaki - UWF 9/11/85

 

Last Original UWF show, I feel like this is the most conventional shoot style match yet from the Original UWF. Match would have been helped a lot to JIP's 12 minutes in because the first half is just brutally boring. I was so confused why this was highly rated, but boy did it pick up. Once Yamazaki started unloading those knees in the clinch and they fell outside the ring, the match became awesome. Yamazaki caught Takada right in the face with a brutal left kick. Yamazaki was rolling. German suplex and submissions at will. Takada was able to recover enough to corner him and caught pretty good with a kick to the gut that doubled him over. Takada was great pressing his advantage here. He was throwing great kicks and slaps. Yamazaki was going for home run kicks to try work his way back into it. The first spin wheel kick missed and almost cost him the match when Takada did a legbar. The second one connected and then match became more even. There was some really great kick and stand up exchanges down the stretch. Really dramatic. Great selling too. There worked in some really nice deadlift, shoot style throws. Each had one really good one. Takada was ferocious on his feet. Quick strikes to the head on every break. Takada back drop driver was great. I loved him taking time to sell before going for cross armbreaker->triangle choke to really put over the attrition accumulated over the course of the match. Yamazaki powerbombs out of triangle and immediately goes for cross armbreaker. It is night and day how much better the last half of this compared to that dreadfully dull first half. Yamazaki gets him in the clinch with knees, but doesn't have great positioning so he lets go and Takada hits a LIGHTNING QUICK SPIN KICK to the midsection that drops Yamazaki. Yamazaki goes for a wild kick and falls over, but Takada does not take advantage. Dramatic moment. Yamazaki gets a single leg back heel trip into a single leg crab. Takada makes ropes. Takada sells shoot style well. He gets up gingerly but then gradually gets pep in his step in like 5-10 seconds. It is well done. TAKADA SWEEPS THE PLANT LEG! I love it! Again does not take advantage. Takada unleashes a barrage of kicks to the midsection. Yamazaki blocking as best he can, but leaves himself open and Takada rifles him in the stomach. Takada sells how own kick really well. Yamazaki cant make ten count.

 

Awesomely dramatic back half that featured Yamazaki the home run slugging aggressor against the lightning quick, counterwrestler in Takada, Takada showed a lot of poise going down early to make a comeback. Yamazaki's strategy was go for bombs. Yamazaki was not nearly as good at defense left himself open to Takada's ferocious kicks. Really great story down the stretch. Back half was definitely ****1/2. I just cant rate a match where nearly half of it is so boring much higher than ****.

[superkix]

If you liked their match from '84, then this is your jam, especially the second half, when they're trying to submit, outstrike and outsuplex each other. The early portion of this match ends in, more or less, a stale mate as they trade kicks and knees and scramble around the mat for control. At one point, Takada knocks down Yamazaki with a kick but he's unable to capitalize. Kazuo's finally able to stun Takada with a solebutt and then blasts him in the face with a kick. He becomes a pitbull at this point in the contest, sinking his teeth into Takada with strikes, hitting a German suplex hold and going right into the submission hold. Takada's able to fire back with strikes of his own, crumpling Yamazaki with a kick to the gut. Before long, they're both unloading with some really brutal offense, trying to get that ten count or submission. Yamazaki is able to make back to his feet before the 10 but finally, a well-placed kick to the midsection from Takada is enough to keep him down for the count. Really good stuff.