[1984-12-05-UWF] Akira Maeda & Pete Roberts vs Keith Haward & Osamu Kido

[Ma Stump Puller]

I think Meltzer giving this a pretty high rating for the time (****, for reference) is telling of what interested him more back then compared to now. And oh boy, is it rough to get into. This match doesn't try to make itself any less hard to swallow, it's just right into slow grindy Catch work and British-style lads stretching each other at a pace many would consider as glacial. Let's be honest though; this match is pretty awesome. There's a real feeling of struggle to every sequence, every counter feeling earned and strained out as everyone here is pretty comfortable on the mat and can more than handle themselves. Pete Roberts was great when I was watching him vs Tiger Mask  and he's just as good if not greater here, really holding down the fort for the first half as Kido and co grapple and test his limits regularly. Maeda isn't quite as snappy as the British lads are, operating as the more dynamic younger talent who is eager to throw weight around and try for more shoot-styleish stuff, though of course it hasn't quite gained any grounding yet as a strict method of sorts. They use a cross armbreaker for a casual hold rather than as a dangerous match-ender, for example, so that does age this to a degree.

I really liked the interactions that he had with Kido, traditionally the more pragmatic grappler. Maeda would push for action and Kido would take advantage of that to wangle in double wrist locks and other submissions, forcing Maeda to struggle to either counter or escape, forcing him to waste his energy on that more than mounting a proper attack. Best parts of this were probably whenever Roberts/Haward were in and doing slick WoS stuff which the crowd seemed to love given they would clap enthusiastically after every extended sequence. It's a shame that they'd be historically used in this promotion as stepping stones. The last 10 minutes or so majorly step up in tempo as Maeda is fed the fuck up with all of these dudes slow dancing with each other and starts kicking Haward around and doing awesome big power moves on him. This energy kept up well despite Maeda sitting in a side headlock for a bit as we get faster and faster spots as the others start to throw strikes and get fired up. Last five minutes are solid as we get a steady increase in violence and a perfect build for the impending draw as the crowd start to realise that time is running out alongside the wrestlers themselves, leading to more risky attempts to take a win.

Truth be told, the only thing they royally messed up was the finish. Kido and Maeda were working, crowd was paying attention and reacting well....then Kido tags out and Haward and him basically circle around for the last 15 seconds left: this felt less like a tense standoff and more of the two realising they needed to stall but had nothing in the bag to convey that apart from just moving around. Naturally the draw verdict is going to rub some people the wrong way but I get it, no one wanted to lose face. Crowd chants "Kido" loudly to finish. This is a great example of a Marmite match; for some this is going to be a amazing 30 minutes of well-paced grappling, a slow descent into more modern flashiness and showmanship, and a standout performance by Kido as he battles the odds and manages to mangle Maeda despite only gaining a moral victory by the end. Others are going to see this as a start/stop rest-hold ridden match that fails to keep interest and ultimately drags out to a draw that didn't really feel deserved or really built up any. I get both of these opinions, I really do, but for me this was a brilliant example of how simple matches can be and how much you can draw from pure groundwork alone when you have enough talent. Solid stuff, I'd say beware though. This match really doesn't care about appealing to people who "don't get" grappling matches like these. It honestly feels like it just wants to kick them out as soon as possible lol.