Union of Wrestling Force Internation Thread

[elliott]

Sorry for the recent quietness/lack of any sort of update leading up to this show. Thanks for the positive words, guys. I feel like the Meltzer writing style is the best (well, at least easiest) possible way for my promotion to come to life (I say that because I'm not nearly as clever as gordi, who is some kind of wizard genius).

 

And Jesse, Regal & Finlay were two guys I had focused on from the very beginning and was ready to take them like super super early but guys like Hash or Vader kept falling. Seriously, I was ready for Regal to be my 2nd pick overall. Just being a shoot style promotion limits me in who I can realistically have in my promotion (and I pushed those boundaries as far as I could) and Regal/Finlay were two guys who I could not only imagine working UWFi, but I think they'd be terrific at it. So with them being internet favorites and available for everyone to draft, I was ready to jump on those dudes quick. I always liked the idea of Regal & Finlay being a badass team beating the fuck out of people as a fun dynamic in a shoot style promotion. You know. Unless something happens along the way and they break up and Regal vs Finlay happens as a UWFi feud

 

Anyway, on to the next show!

 

The 11/4/95 UWFi show from Tokyo’s Budokan Hall saw the crowning of a new UWFi Heavyweight Champion as Russian Sambo master Volk Han, formerly the top foreign star of the RINGS promotion, which was UWFi’s top competition before the folding of the company in the wake of the worldwide talent draft. These two had a great match as we expected and this has the potential to really elevate Han to the next level. Even though he was a main eventer in RINGS and has wins over Akira Maeda, this was by far the highest profile match of Han’s career and he came out looking strong with Takada putting him over in a big way. Han was able to control most of the match with his submission skills putting Takada in danger several times with Takada having to dive for the ropes to break the holds. Takada talked post match how he had never fought anyone like Volk Han before and his unique style is tricky to fight against. Takada had his most success striking keeping Han at bay with leg kicks and managing to get several knockdowns, but Han’s submission work proved too much and he took the match in 17:45 with a cross armbreaker ****

 

This sets up a championship match for a December show with Volk Han defending against new number one contender Vader which will be very interesting for a couple of reasons. First it will be interesting to see how it draws. Han vs Takada was a big success, but Takada was defending the UWFi title against the top gaijin in shoot style that he’d never faced before. While Volk Han vs Vader is certainly a fresh match-up, you have to wonder if it will have the cache of a Takada main event with two foreigners in the spot. I also can’t imagine these two matching up well. Vader has been great in the UWFi environment against great workers, but Volk Han is a great worker in a different way and I anticipate a styles clash. Vader just can't do the sort of mat work Volk Han needs to have a great match and I'm not sure Han will know what to do with a guy like Vader who is too big to do any sort of grappling. But in some ways, that styles clash makes me even more excited to see the match.

 

In the Semi-Main Event, Yoshiaki Fujiwara beat Kazuo Yamazaki in brutal fashion in a “Real Death Match” in 8:15 by KO after relentless stiff headbutts put Yamazaki down for the 10 count. This was a short brawling match and all action with Fujiwara attacking Yamazaki at the bell. This turned into another Fujiwara bloodbath, which haven’t turned off this crowd like you might expect, with both guys blading early after Fujiwara split Yamazaki open with a headbutt. Both guys sold the headbutt and Fujiwara bladed himself to put over how hard he hit Yamazaki. This was all stiff strikes. Fujiwara might be old and past his prime but he has really great facial expressions and this has been a more enjoyable run than I expected. ***1/4

 

The match of the night was Carl Greco retaining his UWFi light heavyweight title by beating Kazushi Sakuraba with a sleeper after 18:15. This was a spectacular match and they spent basically the entire match on the mat. There were some brief striking exchanges after they had to stand back up from rope breaks, but a takedown or a suplex (most notably a great german suplex by Malenko trainee Greco) would inevitably take this back down to the mat. They really tried to push these guys as equals on the mat since Greco would be going over Sakuraba twice in a row, after beating him in the one night tournament to crown the UWFi Light Heavyweight Champion. So neither wrestler really dominated the other and this was more of a back and forth encounter but the speed and technique on display was remarkable. These two have great chemistry. ****1/4

 

The European Connection Steve Regal & Fit Final beat Yoshiaki Yatsu & Osamu Kido in 9:15 when Regal submit Kido with the Regal Stretch. This was another brutal Regal & Finlay match with them taking turns destroying the Japanese team with stiff forearms, knees, suplexes and brutal looking submissions. Yatsu & Kido did not look happy post match. **1/4

 

Masahito Kakihara beat Kenichi Yamamoto in 10:45 by submission when Kakihara locked in a cross armbreaker. This was basically a showcase for Kakihara as he mostly dominated Yamamoto in a sporting contest showing off some great striking combs and quick mat work. Basically a jobber match. Speaking of jobber matches.

 

Shinya Hashimoto beat Tatsuo Nakano in 4:14 by KO. This was another dominating performance by Hashimoto. He really just tore into Nakano with hard chops, kicks and knees. Not much mat work in this at all as Hashimoto really just beat Nakano up. **

 

In the opener, Minoru Tanaka and Hiromitsu Kanehara went to a 15 minute draw. This was basically a way to get these two youngsters on the card performing in front of a big audience. They went balls to the wall on the mat and really threw some incredibly stiff strikes that got the crowd more into it than you’d think given how low these guys are ranked. Better than you’d expect. ***1/2

 

This was another good show for UWFi but you wonder where they go from here. We know Volk Han vs Vader is on the books as a title defense for an upcoming show in December. But as of now, no matches have been announced for the 11/25 show, which is troubling because they have booked the 18,000 seat Yokohoma Arena. They are building to a Takada vs Fujiwara match, but as great as they’ve been building up Fujiwara, I don’t know how strong a number they can do in that building. The company has not said a word about Akira Maeda in weeks and with Dr Death Steve Williams apparently signing with Stampede Wrestling in Canada, the immediate future still looks cloudy for those two in this company. It will be interesting to see who Tamura’s next opponent will be after the Kitao shoot and the classic match with Vader he’s been the hottest wrestler in the company other than Takada lately. We hope to have an update on the next show, like what will actually be on it, soon.

 

UWFi 11/4/95 Tokyo, Japan Budokan Hall (Sellout 16,300)

1. Volk Han beat Nobuhiko Takada to win UWFi World Heavyweight Title 17:45 by submission

2. Yoshiaki Fujiwara beat Kazuo Yamazaki in a “Real Death Match” by KO 8:15

3. Carl Greco beat Kazushi Sakuraba 18:15 by submission to retain UWFi Light Heavyweight Title

4. Steve Regal & Fit Finlay beat Osamu Kido & Yoshiaki Yatsu in 9:15 when Regal submit Kido

5. Masahito Kakihara beat Kenichi Yamamoto 10:45 by submission

6. Shinya Hashimoto vs Tatsuo Nakano 4:14 by KO

7. Minoru Tanaka draw Hiromitsu Kanehara 15:00

 

 

[gordi]

Oh, man... how I wish that card had actually happened, and I'd been able to buy the tape from Tabe or Verne back in the day! Volk,Han vs. Vader is intriguing as all f*** too.

[elliott]

Oh, man... how I wish that card had actually happened, and I'd been able to buy the tape from Tabe or Verne back in the day! Volk,Han vs. Vader is intriguing as all f*** too.

 

My very general blueprint for UWFi is this:

What do I want to see as a fan of the style and all of these wrestlers.

 

I think I can walk the line between running a "successful" promotion from a business drawing standpoint but also make it a shoot style "smart fans" dream.