Bloodsport Bushido announced for Ryogoku Kokugikan on June 22nd

[Control21]

Very interesting. It's good to see Josh Barnett bring this concept to Japan. Sumo Hall is an interesting choice for a venue. I wonder if he has any aces up his sleeve for that sort of building. Going to be interesting to see how the card shakes out. It's a shame so many shoot-style greats are either too old to do a match or retired now. 

[Jmare007]

Yeah, Sumo Hall being the venue surprised me as well, I hope he gets some cool names.

I also hopes he books Abe and Nomura, or least one of them.

[Ma Stump Puller]

can't wait for the main event to be suzuki doing forearms for 15 minutes, epic 

bloodsport is barely shoot-style anyway so it's gonna be more liberal than pure MMA/Inoki-Ism stuff, especially if they're trying to get tickets (worked UWF antics don't sell much there anymore)

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Control21]

1 hour ago, Ma Stump Puller said:

can't wait for the main event to be suzuki doing forearms for 15 minutes, epic 

bloodsport is barely shoot-style anyway so it's gonna be more liberal than pure MMA/Inoki-Ism stuff, especially if they're trying to get tickets (worked UWF antics don't sell much there anymore)

 

 

 

 

 

 

I don't think anyone has tried to run major shoot-style promotions since U-Style, so it's hard to judge whether UWF stuff can still sell tickets. I know GLEAT has a UWF division but they haven't really leaned on that too much so it's hard to judge, especially since it's treated like a secondary act. If this event is a bust, you could argue that shoot-style is dead and can't draw. It'll be an interesting test either way. I think some of the matches will be worthwhile. They have to have some surprises in store if they are running Sumo Hall.

[Makai Club #1]

There is definitely some interest on my part. Bloodsport has been pretty tepid in prior years (basically since Timothy Thatcher went to WWE - he was integral for those first few shows) but a different environment, more suitable talent pool to choose from, the venue. This ignites my interest. Hopefully the likes of Timothy Thatcher, Hideki Suzuki, Takuya Nomura are involved in some capacity. 

[Control21]

Some names have been announced tonight: Rampage Jackson, Mike O'Hearn (???), and Davit Modzmanashvili, who was a medalist for the 2012 Olympics before getting stripped over doping allegations. Not sure where the Mike O'Hearn connection comes from. He's a 55-year-old bodybuilder with no previous wrestling experience. Davit seems like someone Maeda would book for a RINGS show, so I'll give him props for that. A bit random, and I think he'll probably need bigger names to draw a decent crowd.

 

[SirEdger]

Mike O'Hearn was featured in the infamous series Battledome, in which were featured several WCW stars at some point (and how Terry Crews got his break as T-Money). O'Hearn was Mike O'Dell and had triplets as his valets.

[Control21]

Bloodsport Bushido card:

Jon Moxley vs Josh Barnett will be the main event as well

Overall, it's a decent card for this type of show but I'm not sure if Sumo Hall was the best venue choice for this. Tickets were not selling very well the last time I checked.

[EnviousStupid]

Sakuraba v Santino is a dream match I never knew I wanted

[Jmare007]

Card looks very interesting. Not surprised it's not selling well though. Sumo Hall was a very ambitious goal to begin with.

[El-P]

You ain't packing Ryogoku with this. Korakuen Hall was the way to go. Card looks pretty ok, although Bloodsport is always very hit and miss (the last one was the most fun to me).

[corwo]

Don't sleep on Fuminori Abe vs. Yu Iizuka. Iizuka can be a little rough around the edges, but he's one of the better UWF-style workers GLEAT has. I'd recommend checking out his match with Takuya Nomura to get a taste of what he's capable of.

[concrete1992]

Had not seen the official card posted so putting here. I think Sumo Hall was a WILD choice. That said, card is sick. A few guaranteed "good" matches with Mox vs Barnett, Thatcher vs Suzuki, and Yu vs Abe. I think Sato vs Suzuki I would marginally put in there, I think even low effort that could be decent.

But the brain tingles at a few of these others. Nomura vs. Duffee is a match that spiritually speaks to me. Duffee early on got pegged as the next great American heavyweight. At least that was the promotion, it seems he never felt that was his destiny but after recording a :07 KO in your UFC debut, things tend to pick up for you. An okay MMA career, 9-4, beat a couple of names but lost to folks that aren't that great. But he's big as shit and Nomura is stocky but not built like that. My curiosity kjnows no bounds on this one.

Rampage vs. Shrek is the clear other match of interest. Interest in a bit of a different way because Quentin always came off as a pro wrestling personality in the MMA world but I don't know how 2024 Rampage carries over. Is he on the juice? Shrek has experience but he himself is usually the MMA counter to a wrestler to garner interest in a bout, so to see him have to be the experienced side of this match...could be really bad! Could also be deeply exciting! Only time will tell.